Protected by Heart
by BlackBeauty613
Summary: Fourteen years after graduation, Troyella ends, Gabriella marries, and Troy divorces. When the East High reunion arrives, will Gabriella reveal the secret that she's been hiding ever since she met her husband? Troyella. Abuse and language.
1. Trailer

**I'M BAAAAAAAAAAACK!! LOL!! Seriously, I'm back with a new fanfic, Protected by Heart. It's a Troyella, just like all my other stories, unless they're Zanessa. Anyway, this is an abuse story. My first one! I've had this idea for this story since... a few months after HSM came out! Holy crap! lol! Yeah, that's a while! I even have a sequal idea already! Alrighty, back to THIS! It takes place 8 years after the gang's graduation, unless flashbacks are inserted. Ok, here's the trailer! Just like my other story God's First Nightmare, I have the first chapter pretty much written. I just need you to tell me if I should put it up. Ok? Ok! Here's Protected by Heart! Enjoy and Review:)

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How did you get here?

"_How did you meet dad, mom?" Connie asked her mother. Gabriella had to bite her tongue to keep from breaking out into uncontrollable sobs._

**2 seconds ago you were deeply in love and had everything that you've ever wanted**

"_I love you Troy." A 16 year old Gabriella told her boyfriend._

"_I love you too Gabby..." Troy replied, giving her a soft kiss on her lips._

**And now you find yourself slowly falling apart**

_Shows Gabriella sitting on the stairs sobbing with her head in her hands._

**All because you've believed the biggest lie possible**

"_H-he said that he would never hurt me! I feel so stupid!" Gabriella sobbed._

**When I, the person that you threw away, wonders back into your life,**

_Shows Troy at the top of the stairs staring at Gabriella, who was at the bottom._

**Will you tell me?**

"_Gabriella, does he hurt you?" Troy asked, more like a demand._

**Will you tell me about the tragedy your life has become?**

"_My God Gabby. What did he do to you?"_

**Most importantly,**

**Can I help?**

"_No Troy! You need to stay out of this!" Gabriella cried, trying to pull away from his grasp._

**Will you find the love that you thought you lost?**

"_You're married..." Troy whispered, his lips only millimeters away from hers._

"_I haven't been his wife for years..." Gabriella replied._

**Will I make the promise to never let him hurt you again?**

"_I promise he won't ever even _look_ at you again." Troy replied._

**Will I keep that promise?**

"_Promise is a big word Troy..." Gabriella nervously answered._

**So many questions,**

**So much fear**

**So much love and confusion**

**You think that it's so hard, but all you have to do is unlock your heart and drop your guard**

"_I need you to trust me when I say this Gabby." Troy pleaded, feeling the need to drop to his knees._

"_I'm sorry Troy. I just need a little more time to trust men..."_

**Don't worry**

**Don't scream**

**Don't cry**

**It's alright now**

**Now that you've put your heart into my hands, you're safe. You're free. You're...**

"_I still love you Troy." Gabriella whispered, smiling._

_Troy kissed her temple and replied "I never stopped Gabby."_

_**Protected by Heart**_

**My heart. You're safe now. I promise.**

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Cheesy much? lol! Seriously, I need the whole truth and nothing but the truth from you! I've worked really hard on the first chapter and I think it's awesome! But that's just me! It's you that's gonna be reading this story (hopefully) :) Ok, REVIEW!!**

**Rachel :)**


	2. Intro

It was a blistering hot day in Orlando, Florida. The sun was gleaming upon the healthy green grass where the birds hovering in the ice blue sky landed either with family or solitude. The sound of laughter from little children could be heard, filling you with joy and happiness. The smell of fresh, clean air filled your lungs, with the occasional aroma of sweat from the pedestrians passing by on the paved roads. Not a single cloud was visible in the Florida sky, only the golden yellow atop the baby blue reflection of water. You would've guessed that this was everyone's perfect summer day, but your assumption is fairly incorrect. No one would've guessed that the slightest drop of blood could turn this sunny day into a total storm. Deep in the suburbs of Orlando lies the house of hell. The house of pain and depression. The house of Jared Carter.

Jared Carter slammed his cell phone down on the glossy marble counter in the large kitchen of his house. He had just tried to call his unresponsive wife for what seemed like the millionth time. She had told him that she would be back at 1. It was now 2:45. He could feel the anger rage inside of him, building and building until he just couldn't take it anymore.

He slapped the wall and ran upstairs to fetch his shoes and keys. He jumped to his bedroom and grabbed his car keys off of his bedside table and added sneakers to his attire; A white wife-beater and khaki shorts. He raced down the carpeted steps and was about to round the corner, but was stopped. He sighed when he found his wife in front of him with a look of worry drawn across her pretty face. She gulped and gave her husband a wary smile. Jared's eyes transferred to hate as he gave a threatening grin. He slowly started towards her while she was forced to back against the wall. Jared lightly stroked her cheek once, but his hand became a blur as he slapped her, his unclipped nails clawing against her sensitive skin. She muffled a scream as her head twisted to the side quickly. She slowly turned again after drawing a sharp breath. She looked into his hate and rage-filled eyes. They were so painful and uncaring.

She hated this, but all she could do was sit back and wait for it to end. Afterwards, she would just whimper and cry. But all of this was erased from history when their 7 year old daughter Connie was present. Afterwards, it was just the same old tune. She does something wrong and she gets punished for it. This was her life now. She would just have to get used to it. What she hated the most was the fact that she was once successful. Her grades were perfect, she had tons of friends, and a boyfriend who would give his life for her. She threw all of this away, all because of the lie that she believed. She felt so idiotic and vulnerable. But she had created this and she had to live with it, no matter how painful it was.

She wiped her now bleeding cheek and whispered "I'll be upstairs."

Jared nodded slowly. So careless and demanding. His wife turned and went for the stairs, but Jared lifted his foot in front of hers. She collapsed with her forehead hitting the pole on the stairwell. She bit back the cry trying to escape her throat. Jared smiled in victory as he whispered in her ear "You do that."

He walked back to the room, not forgetting to crush her fingers in the process. She let out a whimper along with a few tears. She buried her face in her hands and sobbed silently.

With her back rested against the wall, she thought about how he had let her off easy. Usually, the abuse would consist of smacks, punches, kicks, and throws. She survived almost 3 hours of the torture every day for the past 8 years and it still hasn't sunken in yet. She couldn't figure it out. What had she done to deserve this life? She thought that she was just doing what was best for everyone. Why had it backfired? Just as she was about to answer this question, Connie padded into the room happily exclaiming "Mommy!"

She smiled and lifted her daughter into her arms. She responded "Hey Connie! How was Rosie's?" Connie had just gotten back from her baby sitter/aunt's house. Connie nodded quickly, but before she could tell her mother about her day, arm removed her from his wife's hold and swept her into his own. Jared laughed and asked "Hey kiddo! Have an awesome day at Rosie?" Connie squealed as her father tickled her furiously. His wife couldn't help but watch in sorrow. Jared never hit or abused Connie. Connie knew nothing about it. She was just another 7 year old girl with an abusive father who treated her like another 7 year old girl, but treated his wife like a punching bag.

She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice her husband calling to her "Honey? You there?" He waved his hand in front of her face as she shook out of her imagination.

She nodded and answered "Oh! Yeah, sure. Where were we?"

Jared rolled his eyes and replied "Connie asked you if you would take her to a friend's birthday party."

She nodded and said "Yeah. When?"

Jared handed Connie to her and answered "Now."

She nodded and took the child in her arms, but set her on the floor when she said "I gotta go grab my shoes. Be back in a sec."

With that, she turned and quickly ran up the steps to her room. As she entered, something caught her eye slightly from the side. She grabbed it and brought it closer to her vision. What she saw in front of her eyes brought strong tears to them. The cracked frame held a picture of 2 teenagers, awarded prom king and queen. Under the photograph was the caption.

"Troy Bolton, Prom King"

She then looked at the female half.

"Gabriella Montez, Prom Queen. 2007, East High's Troyella"

She dropped the frame from her hands to the floor, only to crack it further. She hated that picture, but loved it all at the same time. For Gabriella Montez, the happy go lucky girl in the photo, was now a 26 year old wife with an abusive husband. Yes, this abused woman was Gabriella Montez, now the quiet, careful, anxious woman. She would give anything to have her old life back. To have Sharpay, Taylor, Kelsi, Chad, Ryan, Jason, and Martha back in her life would be like dying and going to heaven. But if she could give up anything for one person, that person would be her ex boyfriend, Troy Bolton. Jared had forced her to break up with Troy and get together with him. He proposed, knowing that she would say yes. She had no choice. When they got married, Jared tore her away from her friends who found jobs in Albuquerque and stayed there. He decided on Florida. Although all of her friends were depressed, Troy was heartbroken. He tried to convince her to stay, but nothing made a difference. She was off to Orlando. And there was no going back.

Her fantasy book was closed when she heard Jared call from the lower level of the house "Gabby, come on! Connie's waiting!"

Gabriella took one last look at the picture before pulling on her heels and sprinting down the steps, leaving the broken glass memories to rest on her bedroom floor.

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**Ok, if you compare this type of writing to my earlier stories, this one seems so much more mature. I'm so proud of myself!!! lol! Full of myself moment there. Sorry :)**

**_IMPORTANT ANNOUNCMENT!!!_**

**I understand and have read a story called "I Need to Get Out" that is almost EXACTLY the same as this story. I just want you to know that people have large imaginations and it's just coincidence (I hope) that our stories are similar, because it freaked me out too. Just as I'm about to start a story that I've been planning for a year and a half (Yes, a year and a half), I find a story that has the same plot. But there are lots of abuse stories out there like these two and I guess it just happened. It's not a big deal (hopefully). If the events in this story are the same as INTGO, just know that I've planned this for a long time and I've already planned the chapters and events. So don't send your hate mail saying "THERE'S ALREADY A STORY LIKE THIS!!!" or "YOU COPIED THE AUTHOR OF THAT STORY!!!" I didn't copy anyone! There's hopefully going to be a big difference between our stories and I hope you like both of them.**

**Ok? Ok! REVIEW!!! Thnx:)**

**Rachel :)**


	3. A Way Out

**Yeah...**

**About this whole "not updating in... a few months thing", I can explain that...**

**Oh screw it. Just read the chapter

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6 Years Later... 

A now 32 year old Gabriella Montez found herself in the kitchen, making Jared and Connie breakfast. Connie was still spazing out over her 13th birthday party that she had the day before. She had invited 7 friends and the house was pure chaos for her parents. Jared had given Gabriella a beating for letting their daughter invite that many people over, but acted fine whenever Connie was around. As she flipped the omelets, she heard Jared announce "Gabby, I've got some business to take care of tonight at 8. I should be back at around... 11:30. Ok?"

Gabriella nodded, knowing what the business was.

It was the blonde one.

**FLASHBACK (10 Years)**

_Gabriella had just come home from work, tired and out of breath. Her car had broken down and she had to walk home after the tow truck came and carried it to the shop. She opened the door and walked in, locking it behind her. The brunette walked into the kitchen and, thinking that no one was home, made herself a cup of coffee in delight. Jared never let her drink coffee. He said that it would get her high and that wouldn't look good on his part. She knew that it wasn't true. It was just an excuse. He knew that she loved coffee and if she was happy, that was NOT a good thing. She was always depressed and down, thanks to Jared. He was her enemy, yet her lover._

_Before she got a chance to drink some of her coffee, she heard something vibrate. Looking around the room, she found that it was merely Jared's cell phone. She held it in her hands and gazed upon the caller ID._

_Molly._

_Gabriella's face twisted into a look of pure confusion. Was Molly her husband's new business partner or something? A distant cousin? His mother's nickname?_

_She decided to end the confusion and answer the phone. She clicked the green button and put the phone to her ear. "Hello?" she carefully said._

_A lustful voice answered "Hey baby. Where are you? I though you said you would be here at 8. I'm still waiting and this bra's making me cold, if you catch my drift." _

_Gabriella's mouth dropped wide open. Did this person have the wrong number?_

"_E-excuse me? Who is this?" she asked, making sure to sound feminine._

"_Who's THIS? Jared?" the caller asked._

_Gabriella corrected "No, this is Jared's _wife_, Gabriella."_

_The receiver, obviously named Molly, cried "Oh God! I-I'm so sorry! I didn't... I don't... I have to go."_

_Gabriella quickly stopped "No! Stay on the line. What's going on?"_

_Molly stayed silent for a moment, leaving a very confused and anxious Gabriella on the other end of the phone._

"_I-I'm sorry. I have to go." Molly finally ended. With that, she hung up._

_Gabriella was about to protest, when she felt the phone being roughly removed from her hands. She spun around, only to find herself before Jared. A very angry looking Jared. She hated when he was angry, but at least he wasn't violent. _

_Yet._

_Gabriella asked angrily "Who is she?"_

_Jared shrugged "Why is that any of your business?"_

_Gabriella gaped at her husband. She was his wife. Anything in his life applied to her, no matter how private it was._

"_Because it surely sounded like it's my business! Are you cheating on me?!" Gabriella furiously quarried. _

_Jared stayed calm and replied simply "What if I am? Is that a problem?"_

_Gabriella was speechless. How could he say something like this? It was the biggest problem that ever occurred in a relationship. She would know, since it's happened to her before. And she wouldn't tolerate it a second time._

"_Yes! Yes, it DAMN well IS a problem Jared! I'm not your doormat or some piece of junk that you throw around without a care! I have feelings too!"_

_She was cut off by a sting on cheek. She fell back and grasped her face. She stared at her husband, who had now started to circle her, looking her over. _

"_How was that for a feeling? What, I'm not allowed to hit you?"_

_Gabriella, who was now blinded with fury, stared him straight in the eye and growled "No you can't!"_

_Jared rolled his eyes and effortlessly punched his wife square in the jaw. She stumbled and tried to keep her balance, but she fell to the floor in a heap. She stared up at her husband, who, to her new surprise, had an evil grin plastered across his face. She watched as he walked to the other side of the kitchen and picked up his cell phone, sighing "I was hoping that we didn't have to come to this Gabby but, you leave me no choice."_

_He opened the phone and dialed a number before putting it to his ear, stating loudly "Molly? Yeah, it's really me this time. The bitch got my phone, but you won't have to worry about her anymore. How about you put on that skimpy little number again and I'll see you in about 10 minutes? Ok, see ya then sexy."_

_He hung up and tossed the phone towards Gabriella's face, which was twisted with confusion and hurt. Jared bent down to Gabriella's low level and spat "That right there is how it's going to be from now on. You tried looking for trouble and now you've finally found it. This house is going to be like a military. You do something wrong, and I correct you. Now, I'm going over to Molly's and I should be back at around... 12:30. Do we understand each other?"_

_Gabriella couldn't do anything but stare at him. Had the sweet, innocent Jared that she knew back in high school really transformed into this cold, hard dictator? She tried to stop herself, but she nodded slowly._

_Jared grabbed her face, earning a whimper from her, and threatened "Good. That gives you enough time to wash the dishes, dust the house, and vacuum. Get it?"_

_Gabriella sobbed, but nodded all the same. She couldn't find the words to explain this horrendous situation that she had somehow crawled into._

_Jared smiled and smacked her one last, playful time. Gabriella fell to the floor helplessly as Jared grabbed his car keys and walked out the door, leaving his wife on the floor, bleeding on her face and on her heart._

**END FLASHBACK**

Gabriella was about to sprinkle the salt on the breakfast when she was interrupted by the phone ringing. She took a short break strolled over to the phone, anxious to find out who would be calling at this time in the morning.

She looked at the caller ID, which didn't help much since it read "Private Caller." Confused, she clicked the "Talk" button and put the phone to her ear, answering "Hello?"

The receiver replied "Long time, no see."

Gabriella scrunched her eyebrows and asked "Excuse me? Who is this?"

The mysterious caller huffed "Don't tell me that you forgot me! Come on Gabby! You know who this is."

Gabriella was about to reply, but stopped herself. The voice was suddenly very familiar to her ears. She had heard it before, if only she could figure out where it was. Then it finally hit her like a ton of bricks.

"T-Troy? Is that you?" Gabriella stuttered.

He laughed and teased "Took you long enough Miss. Montez."

Gabriella gasped and shrieked. Jared and Connie jumped and turned to the older woman before them. Jared sent her a look of confusion, as if saying _"What was that?"_

Gabriella cried "Oh my God! Troy, I can't believe it's you! It's been too long! How are you?" She spoke, not recognizing the glare received by a certain husband of hers.

"Not bad," Troy answered. "Kinda bored at the moment. Just called to see how you were."

"_Well, I'm an abused woman with little or no confidence whatsoever. Oh, and did I forget to mention that I have a kid in the house who's completely oblivious to what's going on between me and my husband?"_ Gabriella thought to herself.

"Fine. I'm making breakfast for me, Jared, and Connie." She smiled at Connie's name. Troy had no idea that she had a child a year after her and Jared got married.

"Wait, who's Connie? Don't tell me she's your-"

"Yes Troy. We had a girl after we got married." Gabriella stated proudly. She glanced over at Connie and Jared. They were high-fiving each other. Connie was slightly pink at the recognition, but soon tossed it over her shoulder and smiled.

"That's great!" Troy exclaimed over the phone. "Good to see you so happy!"

Gabriella smiled sadly. _If only you knew._

"Anyways, are you free on the 29th?"

Gabriella, with little thought, replied "Yeah, I think so. Why?"

Troy informed "East High's having its 2nd reunion. They have one every 7 years. Where were you at the last one?"

Gabriella froze. Jared had locked her in a room for the whole night when he found out about it. He took it as a chance for her to escape him. Jared was aggressive, but he sure wasn't dumb.

After no response, Troy quarried "Gabby? You there?"

Gabriella shook out of her trance and answered "Y-yeah. I really wanted to come but... my mother had kidney problems. I'm sorry for missing it. How are Sharpay and the gang?"

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jared give her a thumbs up on her excuse. Connie had on a confused glance when Sharpay was mentioned. "What kind of name is that?" she asked Jared. Jared just shrugged in response.

"Oh they're fine," Troy replied. "Sharpay and Zeke are engaged, Taylor and Chad are married, and Jason's still dating Kelsi. Sharpay's pregnant and we think that she's got twins!" He finished the last sentence in a sing song voice.

Gabriella's mouth dropped in a gasp at the news about Sharpay's pregnancy. After she left, Sharpay called her and announced that she was officially taking thinks slow with Zeke, but she was obviously tired of taking baby steps. She went the whole extra mile.

"Oh my God are you serious?! That's amazing! It's about time!"

Troy added "I know! They've been talking about children to no end before it happened and I was seriously about to go insane!"

This earned a giggle from Gabriella. She didn't notice the glare boring into her skin by you-know-who.

"You've always been like that Troy. Why should I expect anything to be different now?" Gabriella asked sarcastically.

"No comment. Anyways, you coming?" Troy asked. Gabriella gave it some thought. Should she try to sneak out behind Jared's back or-

Her thoughts were interrupted by a hard object hitting her on the back of the head. With a shriek, she spun around to see a bagel landing on the ground. She looked up at Jared, who had an amused look on his face. Before she could say anything, he mouthed "I'm going with you."

Without a response from his wife, Jared rolled his eyes, sighed in frustration, and whispered loudly "You can go as long as we come with you."

Gabriella, lighting up, squealed and said into the phone "Troy! Tell everyone to meet me there! I'm going!"

Troy replied "Really? That's awesome! I'll see you there."

"Ok, I have to go. The eggs are getting cold."

Troy teased "And heaven knows we can't feed our family cold eggs."

Gabriella replied in an annoyed tone "GOODBYE TROY!"

Hearing him hang up with murmurs, Gabriella rolled her eyes with a smile and brought the omelets to the table, her heart filling with electricity.

Hopefully she would find a way out.

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**REVEIW IT OR RE-SCREW IT!!! lol :)**

**Rachel :)**


	4. The Reunion

**Sorry about the wait guys! I have so many stories that need to by updated, especially "God's First Nightmare", and I tried really hard to write this when I had time, but I didn't. Sooo... here's the next chapter! Enjoy and don't forget to REVIEW:)**

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Gabriella took one last look at herself in the mirror in her hotel room, figuring that she looked presentable. It was finally Friday the 29th. The night of her reunion. She would finally reunite with her best friends. The family she left behind. She would catch a breath of fresh air and take a break from her hellish job called her life. Jared could do nothing or say anything that would make someone suspicious. He would be a good boy. She was in control until 11:30. Then it was back to work. Running hell. 

The Carter family left Florida the day before and stopped at a hotel to make sure that they got to the reunion on time. It would take too long if they just left in the morning that day. They only had about 2 more hours to go before they reached East High.

Gabriella fixed her makeup and styled her hair before hearing Jared call in an annoyed tone "Gabriella, are you ready yet?"

Gabriella sighed and replied "Yeah, one second." She put on her shoes, grabbed her purse, and walked down the stairs, having Jared whistle flirtatiously and Connie commenting "Wow, someone looks hot!"

Gabriella rolled her eyes, but smiled none the less. She straightened out her dress and warned "Thanks. Well, we better get going. You know how Sharpay is when someone's late."

Jared shuttered at the memory of the blonde's explosion in high school and muttered "Never again. Let's go people."

Everyone followed him out the door and piled into the car, Gabriella still trying to contain her excitement. She was flinching in her seat and silently squealing in her head. She never thought that she would get an opportunity like this to break free of her "protective barrier" and finally let go of Jared's cold, abusive hand. She felt normal again.

"Is _he_ going to be there?" she suddenly heard Jared ask. Gabriella gulped, knowing who _he_ was. Jared knew everything about his wife's past, from where she grew up to who she was romantically involved with. And "_he_" didn't exactly fall under Jared's favorite category of Gabriella's ex's.

"Yeah," Gabriella replied quietly. "He's the one who called me in the first place."

"Is he single?" Jared quarried dangerously. He didn't like his wife being around _him_.

"No, he's married." Gabriella answered. She knew what was coming next.

"Good. I'd like to meet her." Jared said seductively. Gabriella cringed. She couldn't stop Jared from cheating on her, but he never said anything about giving _him_ a warning.

"_I bet you would."_ Gabriella thought to herself.

The rest of the ride was silent except for the radio blasting Connie's favorite song, "Anywhere" by Evanescence. It got them all really emotional, especially Gabriella. It was all she wanted in life. To go anywhere with her savior. Whoever that was.

2 and a half hours later, they all finally arrived at East High School, Gabriella's home. She beamed when she saw how many cars were parked in the lot and all the lights inside. She squealed and tore the door open, dashing across the pavement and into the building, leaving Jared and Connie to roll their eyes. "Was mom always this exited about school?" Connie asked.

Jared nodded "She was a nerd." Connie laughed while her and her father made their way inside the large building, not knowing what was in store for them.

"_This is it!"_ Gabriella thought to herself excitingly _"I'm gonna see my friends again! Sharpay, Taylor, Kelsi, Chad, Ryan, Jason, Zeke, Martha, everyone! This is the greatest night of my life!"_

She stopped at the doors and, taking a deep breath, pushed them open. The sight before her made her breath hitch in her throat. Dancing, laughing, talking, eating, partying. It was like high school all over again. Well, for the most part.

"Oh my God." Gabriella whispered to herself. She didn't notice someone sneak up behind her and say "Amazing, isn't it?"

She jumped and turned around. She squealed "Sharpay!!!"

Sharpay screamed "Gabby!!!"

The two friends embraced in a tight hug while shrieking in each other's ears. When they parted, they scanned each other's body, Sharpay saying "Wow! You look great!" You don't look a day over 30!"

Gabriella, blushing, replied "Me?! What about you?! You still look 18!!! And you're pregnant?! That's so fantastic! I'm so proud of you!"

Sharpay exclaimed "I know, isn't it great?! I love Zeke so much! I can't wait until the twins come! Anyways, you look _wayyy_ better than me!"

"No I don't."

"Yes you do."

"No I don't."

"Yes you to!"

While the two bickered over who looked better for their age, someone piped up "While you tow fight over looks, I'mma go make out with the hottest one here."

"Oh thank you!" came another masculine voice. Gabriella and Sharpay spun around, only to face a grinning Taylor. "TAY!!!" the two screamed at the dark skinned beauty. The three friends embraced in a tight hug while crying words of happiness in each other's ears. They were so wrapped up in their reunion that they didn't notice a certain bushy haired prankster asked "Room for one more?"

Gabriella turned around and expected to see a bald and chubby Chad Danforth, but instead her mouth dropped. He looked better than he did in high school. His long, wild curls still stuck to his head in a huge, but controlled mess. It looked like he had been working out for ages nonstop. Apart from the muscle he already had, he had built his chest with even more protein and work. He also must've picked Taylor up a lot because his arms looked inflated. In all, he looked like a brick wall. A strong, grown up brick wall.

Gabriella slowly turned her head back to Taylor and mouthed "Holy shit!"

Taylor nodded proudly and replied "That's what happens when you keep your men in line."

"_Unlike me..."_ Gabriella thought to herself. She was stopped by Chad asking teasingly "Like what you see?"

Gabriella rolled her eyes and answered "Oh, don't be so full of yourself. We all know that you look good." Chad laughed, his voice being something else that matured. It was way deeper.

He swept Gabriella up in his arms and greeted warmly "Good to see you again Gabby."

Gabriella smiled back "Same here Chad. It's good to see all of you."

Just as Gabriella and Chad parted, Gabriella felt a harsh tug on her waist and found herself wrapped up in a forced hug.

"Hey! I'm Jared, Gabriella's husband."

The gang silenced at his words. After Gabriella got together with him in high school, they all had a problem with him. But when they married and he forced her to move, that was the last straw. They transferred all of their feelings to hate. They all knew that it was wrong to hate someone, but they couldn't help it. Jared knew how close they were and yet, he still moved them. They couldn't stand him... and he knew it. He may beat his wife, but he wasn't completely stupid. But out of all of them, Sharpay was the one who hated him the most. Since day one, she sensed something wrong with the relationship. The way he looked at her, touched her, and spoke to her didn't sit well with the blonde at all. She didn't know exactly what it was, but she knew that something was out of place. She could see it in Gabriella's eyes, which screamed "HELP!!!". Sharpay wished that she could, but she didn't know how. If she knew the problem, she would fix it in a heartbeat. She had waited for this for a long time. Her goal was to find the issue, get rid of Jared, and help Gabriella recover. She knew that she was jumping to conclusions, but she could feel it more than anything. No one messed with her best friend.

A chorus of very dull "Hello Jared's could barely be heard, but Jared flashed a fake smile anyway.

"Chad, my main man! How's it going? I see you still haven't shaved your head yet. Loose the razor in your hair?"

Chad gave an extremely fake, but convincing laugh and he walked behind Taylor, rolling his eyes. Jared's eyes switched to Taylor. He slowly strolled over to the glaring woman and flirted "Taylor, lookin' good. You still in love with curly cue over there? 'Cause you know..." He paused and lightly touched her arm "I can give you what you really want."

At that, Chad grabbed Taylor's waist, pulled her close to him, and spat "Taylor, is it a little cold in here?!"

Gabriella, red in the face and close to tears, looked at the furious man. His jaw was locked, his arms completely groped Taylor's waist, and his eyes predicted that he was about to draw a gun. She sighed and prayed that by the end of this, Chad's fists would remain free of blood.

"You know what Chad? It is. Why don't we go look for my sweater?" Taylor replied, just as furious, but relieved to be in Chad's strong, protective arms. With that said, the couple turned and walked off, fuming the whole way.

Jared shrugged and stalked over to Sharpay, trying "So Sharpay. You wanna go-"

"Don't even." Sharpay glared. She turned to Gabriella and irritably stated "Gabby, I think I saw Kelsi and Jason over there in that direction. Come on."

She grabbed the brunette's arm and pulled her away from her husband before she could object. Gabriella looked behind her and cringed when she saw the look on Jared's face. "Just wait until we get home..." he mouthed.

Gabriella looked at the floor. She was in for one hell of a night.

Just as Gabriella was about to let go of Sharpay's hand, a voice called "Gabby!!! Haven't seen you in a while!"

She turned her head and her frown disappeared into a smile. In front of her stood a bright and handsome Jason Cross, his arms outstretched for a hug. Gabriella squealed and buried herself in his chest, shrieking "Jase! I didn't think I'd ever see you again! How've you been?"

Jason happily replied "Happy. Kelsi's been taking care of me and I've been doing the same. God, look at you! You really look like a woman!"

Gabriella was about to reply, but something from the top of the stairs caught her attention first. The world around her seemed to freeze on the spot. Every noise melted into a whisper and for a second, time seemed to stop with the world. She found herself becoming limp and her legs turn to jello. Her eyes didn't widen and her mouth didn't drop. She just simply froze. There, at the top of the steps staring at her, was none other than the prom king of 2007.

Troy Bolton.

* * *

**Yay!!! Troy's in the picture now! Will Gabby tell him about her relationship with Jared or keep it to herself and let him slip away? REVIEW and find out! Next chapter will be up asap :) REVIEW!!! Thnx :)**

**Rachel :)**

**A SNEAK AT NEXT CHAPTER:**

**- Troyella meets again for the first time in 14 years**

**_"Hey Gabby! How've you been?" Troy asked nervously, but excitedly._**

**_"Great," Gabriella lied "Jared's been treating me... really well and I've never been happier."_**

**'Even when we were together?'_ Troy thought to himself sadly._**

**- Sharpay almost finds out about Jared's ways**

**_"I don't know Gabriella. Something just doesn't sit right with me about Jared." Sharpay said aplogetically._**

**_"It's okay Sharpay. We can both have our opinions about him." Gabriella smiled back._**

**_"Are you sure everything's okay?" Sharpay asked again, not believing her._**

**_"You have no idea..." Gabriella whispered, thinking that Sharpay couldn't hear._**

**_"What was that?" Sharpay asked, eyes widening._**

**_"Uhh... I uhh..." Gabriella stuttered, unable to think of an excuse._**

**- Troy gets suspitious**

**_"Why are you acting so wierd? Why do you keep mentioning Jared?" Troy asked._**

**_"Sorry. I guess I just had a bad chicken leg." Gabriella sighed, putting a hand on her head._**

**_Troy nodded, not buying her excuse for a second. Something was wrong and he didn't feel good about it at all._**

**_"Are you sure that Jared's been treating you rig-"_**

**_"Oh look! Monkey bars!" Gabriella shrieked as she took off for the park, relieved to find an excuse to get away from their discussion._**


	5. Run to Me

**Hey guys! Srry about not updating in a while. I was obsessed with God's First Nightmare. My bad. lol! Okay, so this is a Troyella chapter. They don't kiss or anything, but at least we get away from Jared. Okay, READ:)**

* * *

There he was. Looking as handsome and unbelievable as ever. Gabriella could feel her heart beating 10 times faster than the speed of light when her eyes connected with his blue ones. She had to fight the urge to run up to him and demand him to bury her in his arms like he used to do in high school. But those days were over now. And they were never coming back. 

Gabriella was so busy with her thoughts that she didn't notice Troy walking down the steps over to her and her friends. Her eyes unconsciously followed him the whole way down the stairs and when he came within 5 yards of her, she could feel her palms become sweaty and everything was going in slow motion.

Troy finally reached the pack of friends and smiled "Hey Gabby! How've you been?" Troy asked nervously, but excitedly.

Gabriella couldn't help but stare at him. How he's changed over the years! His once long, shaggy hair was cut into a short, crazy style and his blue eyes sparkled with love. **(Link in pro of what he looks like and what is wearing)**

"Great," Gabriella lied "Jared's been treating me... really well and I've never been happier."

'_Even when we were together?'_ Troy thought to himself sadly.

"Oh, well that's good to hear. I've...uhh...missed you. We all have." He spoke aloud, opening his arms, asking for a hug.

Gabriella accepted as he brought her into his arms. God, it felt so good to hug him again. She could see over his shoulder Jared glaring hard at her, hate filling his grey eyes.

Gabriella took that as a sign to stop. She quickly released herself from Troy and smiled at him. "So, I hear that you got married to Jessica! How is the happy couple?" she finished teasingly.

Troy nodded "The happy couple is now sadly...divorced."

Gabriella's smile automatically dropped into a frown as shock and regret for her last question shot through her eyes. Troy, on the other hand, didn't look angry at all. More like sad and betrayed.

"Oh my God! I'm so sorry Troy! What happened?" Gabriella apologized, worried.

Troy took a trip down memory lane as he started "Well..."

**FLASHBACK (5 YEARS)**

_Troy sighed as he shut his car off. He couldn't stand his boss. Not in the least bit. He was the most air headed, self centered, spoiled brat he's ever met and he was seriously about to scream. Aside from Chad and Zeke, he was the hardest working coach at East High and he thought that he deserved a raise just like his two friends.  
_

"_I swear that ass hates me..." Troy mumbled to himself. But he just sighed again and got out of his car, hoping that his wife Jessica could help him recover from his hellish day. _

_He walked towards the porch and looked up, expecting to see an empty space, but instead his eyes widened in horror. There stood Jessica and someone else, all over each other and looking like they were ready to head into the bedroom. He was kissing her neck hungrily while she was trying to find her keys to the house and get the man's shirt off at the same time. She was moaning and yelling his name. "Josh, you're such an animal! I can't wait to get you in bed!"_

_Josh replied into her flesh "You sure that idiot husband of yours won't be home until late?"_

_Jessica giggled "I'm sure. Don't worry about him catching us. He's too stupid to figure it out anyway."_

_Josh laughed along with her and successfully managed to remove her top just as she found the keys. Just as they were about to walk into the house, Troy came storming up the stairs of the porch, hate lining his eyes and his jaw locked, trying not to kill them both. Jessica and Josh froze on the spot, not believing the sight in front of them. They hadn't planned on getting caught tonight._

"_Leave. Now." Troy growled to Josh._

_Josh automatically nodded and fixed his shirt that was halfway off of his body. He ran down the steps and jumped into his car, driving off down the street._

_Jessica kept her gaze anywhere but Troy's eyes. She was too afraid of what she might find in them._

"_Troy-" she tried._

"_Get out." Troy seethed back, not letting her finish. He didn't want to listen to her anymore._

_Jessica pleaded "Troy, baby I'm sorry! I can explain-"_

"_I SAID GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!!!" Troy screamed, causing Jessica to jump in fear, backing herself up against the wall._

_Jessica whimpered "Troy, can we just calmly talk about this? You're starting to scare me..."_

_Troy ran up to her and grabbed her by her shoulders, digging his nails into her bare skin and screaming in her face "Why should I listen to you anymore?! You cheated on me right in front of my face and bashed me! I'm not as stupid as you think I am Jessica! I can't believe you! How long has this been going on?!!"_

_Jessica didn't reply. She just kept her eyes on the ground._

"_ANSWER ME!!!" Troy screamed._

"_S-six months." Jessica whimpered._

_Troy started to shake with rage. His face turned a deep shake of purple and red combined._

"_Get out..." He demanded, his voice shaking._

"_Troy, I-"_

"_GET THE FUCK OUT!!!" Troy finally shouted, sure that the neighbors could hear._

_Jessica wiped her tears away and grabbed her shirt that was dropped on the floor. She ran to her car and drove off in the direction of Josh's house, not looking back._

**END FLASHBACK**

"Oh my God! She cheated on you for 6 months?!" Gabriella asked in awe.

Troy nodded and replied "I was always out at work, so I can see how she tossed it over my head for so long. But enough of my crappy love life. How's it going with you and...Jared? Are you still married?"

"_Unfortunately, yes. He won't let me out of the relationship."_ She thought to herself. "Things are great, as said before. We had a daughter, Connie. She's quite a sweetheart."

Troy's heart broke in two at the mention of their perfect life. He had to fight back the urge to kiss her and tell her how much he loved her, which he knew that he would never get to do again.

"Oh yeah! Where is she?" Troy recapped their phone conversation from a few weeks ago.

Gabriella was about to answer when Connie came running up to her saying "Mom, where are the bathrooms? I've had to go for two hours now and I feel like I'm about to-"

"Connie, this is my old friend, Troy Bolton." Gabriella interrupted, smiling.

Connie turned to the 32 year old man in front of her and held out her hand saying "Hi Mr. Bolton. It's nice to meet you."

Troy shook her hand and smiled "Nice to meet you too Connie. I've heard a lot of wonderful things about you."

Connie smiled along with him and turned back to her mother mouthing "He's hot!"

Gabriella blushed and said "That's quite enough out of you. The bathrooms are around the corner, 3 doors on your left."

Connie nodded and walked off, leaving Troy and Gabriella by themselves again. They had no idea where their friends wondered off to, but they wished that they were here helping them start up a conversation.

"She's beautiful. You should be really proud of her." Troy stated, smiling.

Gabriella nodded "Yeah, she is. Me and Jared are really proud of her. She's the captain of her volleyball team and she's really fond of that. Anyways, I think we should go and find our friends. I think they abandoned us."

Troy nodded and followed Gabriella through the crowd of ex-students of East High. The two found the gang whispering and looking very angry to each other. Confused, they walked up to them and said "Hey, what's going on?"

Chad and Taylor shook their heads and replied "Oh nothing. Just talking and catching up. I think we should go see Kelsi and Jason. We haven't seen them yet. See ya later." With that, they walked off.

Gabriella turned to Taylor and asked "What's up with them?"

Sharpay sighed "We were talking about Jared."

Gabriella groaned and replied "Why can't you just leave him alone and accept the fact that I'm...happy with him?"

"I don't know Gabby. Something just doesn't sit right with me about Jared." Sharpay said apologetically.

"It's okay Sharpay. We can both have our opinions about him." Gabriella smiled back.

"Are you sure everything's okay?" Sharpay asked again, not believing her.

"You have no idea..." Gabriella whispered, thinking that Sharpay couldn't hear.

"What was that?" Sharpay asked, eyes widening.

"Uhh... I uhh..." Gabriella stuttered, unable to think of an excuse.

Suddenly, a song erupted from the speakers surrounding the room. Gabriella piped up "Oh my God!!! I love this song!"

She ran out on the dance floor, but then remembered that she had no one to dance with. She sulked to the other end of the room and sat in a corner. This was her favorite song and she knew that Jared would never dance with her. He would only randomly run off with other girls that he didn't even know. It was considered cheesy to him.

"Do you want to dance?" came a soft voice behind Gabriella. She looked up and smiled when she saw Troy doing the same to her.

"I'd love to." She replied, getting to her feet and letting Troy lead her to the dance floor. When they were in the middle, Gabriella wrapped her arms around Troy's neck while he did the same around her waist. They stared into each other's beautiful eyes while the music carried them away.

**Over your head  
Trying not to drown  
Reaching for a breath  
Before it drags you down  
Caught in between  
All the pain you feel  
You lost control  
You're letting go  
But I never will **

I'm holding on for you  
I'm fighting for your life  
And when you're blinded by this jaded world  
I'll be your eyes  
Even if you fall  
I won't let you break  
When all the noise is telling you  
To run away  
Run to me

Day after day  
After all you seen  
It's alright if you feel like unraveling  
I'll be right here  
I'm pushing out the walls  
To find the place  
Where you can say  
Brave through it all

I'm holding on for you  
I'm fighting for your life  
And when you're blinded by this jaded world  
I'll be your eyes  
Even if you fall  
I won't let you break  
When all the noise is telling you  
To run away  
Run to me

When I was lost  
Hanging on by a thread  
I knew I could run to you  
To find myself again

I'm holding on for you  
I'm fighting for your life  
When you're blinded by this jaded world  
I'll be your eyes  
And even when you fall  
I won't let you break  
When all the noise is telling you to run away  
Run to me 

**Come to me**

**When you're blinded by this jaded world**

**I'll set you free**

**Even when you fall**

**I won't let you break**

**When all the noise is telling you to run away**

**Run to me**

By now, Gabriella had fallen into Troy's chest and was silently sobbing to herself. Troy felt the tears on his shirt and gently caressed Gabriella's back, whispering words of comfort in her ear.

Once Gabriella collected herself, she gave a small laugh and whispered "Sorry. I don't know why I just broke down like that."

Troy shrugged "Don't worry. That song's really moving. It gets me too sometimes."

They continued dancing for about 4 songs after that, including With You, Miracle, Just So You Know, and Never Too Late **(Artists in the author's note)**

When the last song ended, Tory whispered "Do you wanna go for a walk?"

----

Troy and Gabriella walked side by side laughing and having a good time. They talked about any random thing that came to their minds, like cheese, the dangers of scissors in schools, Myspace pictures, llamas, dog fur, and lots more.

"No seriously!" Troy laughed, half serious. "They keep talking about how weapons are unacceptable and how you can't even bring water guns to school! Why the hell would they allow little kindergarteners to run around with scissors and glue and other crap that they can get killed with?! I mean just think about it! It's totally retarded!"

Gabriella was trying to get her breath back to normal from his hilarious remarks with no success. He just kept going at it.

"And what if they try to play a game or something and they accidentally cut themselves and actually _like_ it?! They'll be emo for life!"

"Troy, just shut up and keep walking!" Gabriella joked as they came across a playground.

"I'm just sayin'..." Troy kidded.

Gabriella was suddenly knocked into a big kiddy mood as she screamed "OH, MONKEY BARS!!!"

Troy rolled his eyes and followed the crazed woman to the playground, helping her up to the jungle gym.

Gabriella rolled up the extra long sleeves of her sweater a little bit to gain access to the bars. She moved to on to the next with ease, laughing her butt off.

"Yay! Look at me being so immature! I feel 10 again!" Gabriella shrieked.

Troy just stared at her in wonder, thinking about how beautiful she looked like when she was smiling. _"Why did I ever let her go?"_ he thought to himself.

Just as she was reaching the middle, Gabriella's sleeve fell down to her elbow, revealing a huge bruise on her forearm. This didn't go unnoticed by Troy, who called "Hey, what's that?"

Gabriella replied "Huh?" She looked up at her arm and gasped when she discovered the bruise. She tried to pull her sleeve up again, but that just caused her to lose her balance and go tumbling to the ground. She landed on the bruise and screamed her heart out, trying to bite back the tears feeling the need to be released.

Troy rushed over to the brunette and automatically lifted her to her feet, crying "Oh my God, are you okay?!"

Gabriella nodded and felt a lone tear make its way down her face. Troy immediately wiped it away with his thumb and took her arm in his hand, examining the bruise. "Where did you get this?"

Gabriella froze on the spot. She never really had to lie to anyone about her situation except for Connie, who never really paid attention to her excuses.

"I...uhh...fell down the stairs..." Gabriella tried, shifting her eyes back and forth.

The two stood in an uncomfortable silence, Gabriella feeling Troy's strong eyes burning with thought.

"Nice lie." He finally said.

"Troy-"

"Gabriella, you're lying to me." Troy calmly pointed out, still holding her arm.

"No, I swear I'm not. I'm still really clumsy and I-"

"If you fell down the stairs, the rest of your body would be bruised. Now tell me what really happened." Troy figured, getting a little angry.

"I...I can't tell you." Gabriella whispered.

"Gabby, you can tell me anything. You know that." Troy reminded her, stroking her cheek and still holding her arm.

"I know, but I just...can't tell you this." Gabriella refused, trying to turn away from him.

"It has to do with Jared, doesn't it?" Troy thought aloud, his eyes widening in shock.

Gabriella didn't reply, although she tried to. She just couldn't find it in her heart to lie to Troy again.

"Gabriella, does he hurt you?" Troy sharply asked, already knowing the answer.

* * *

**OHHH!!! Cliffhanger! Srry about that. Do you think that Gabriella will admit it and let Troy help her or will she lie to him and he finds out for himself? REVIEW and find out! Thnx :)**

**Rachel :)**

**Song 1 - "Run to Me" by Nick Lachey**

**With You - Chris Brown**

**Miracle - Paramore**

**Just So You Know - Jesse McCartney**

**Never Too Late - Three Days Grace**


	6. An Offer I Can't Refuse

**Sorry guys! I've been really busy with my story "God's First Nightmare" Anyways, here's the next chapter. It mainly focuses on Gabriella and Troy, but that'll be changed next chapter. You get to see a little bit more of the gang next chapter :)**

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"Gabriella, answer me!" Troy demanded, tightening his grip on her arm.

Gabriella winced in pain and whimpered at his question. She couldn't speak, nor could she lie to him again. Of all the things she was, Gabriella wasn't a liar.

Choking back a sob, Gabriella tried to answer "Troy, I-I...I-"

"Oh my God Gabby..." Troy whispered, welling up. He stepped towards her and brought her into a tight, loving hug, feeling his shoulder grow wet from her violent tears.

"How long?" he asked softly in her ear, stroking her hair and eyeing a bruise on her neck.

"H-he forced me into the relationship. He told me to break up with you or he would...k-kill you." Gabriella sobbed into him, fisting his shirt.

Troy's electric blue eyes now grew into a deep shade of gray from anger. He pulled Gabriella closer to him, if possible, and mumbled "You said that you were destroying my basketball career when you broke up with me."

Gabriella nodded "I couldn't tell you the truth. I thought that I was doing what was best for everyone by keeping them away from Jared."

"You proved yourself wrong, didn't you?"

"Yeah, I realized that over the years. God Troy, I'm so scared! What if Jared figures out that I told you?! We're all dead!"

Troy comforted "Shhh. It's okay. I'm not gonna let him ever touch you again. Okay? I promise you that."

Gabriella shook her head "The only way you can do that is if you kill him and God knows that you're not a murderer."

Troy disagreed "I'm not gonna kill him Gabby. I'm putting him in jail for what he's done to you."

Gabriella stopped him "No Troy, not yet! Don't even talk to him!"

"But Gabby-"

"Troy, I don't want you anywhere near Jared. You have nothing to do with this, so just let me handle it."

"How are you gonna do that?" Troy asked, crossing his arms.

"I'll move out." Gabriella answered, already seeing a flaw in her plan.

"And you'll move in with who?" Troy asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Sharpay. She's wanted Jared out of my life since she met him and she'll do anything to help me. She said that to my face." Gabriella replied, reaching to wipe away a few tears but Troy beat her to it. She smiled faintly.

"Gabby," Troy said lovingly "She's going to give birth to twins in a few months. They're not gonna have a lot of space and the babies will keep you up all night."

"Well then where am I supposed to go?" Gabriella asked, giving up. She had no idea what her ex was talking about until he finally said...

"Get your stuff. You're coming with me."

"What?" Gabriella's mouth dropped.

"Yeah," Troy nodded as though it was obvious "You have no where to go and you can't go home. This is what old friends are for, right?"

Gabriella stuttered "A-are you sure? What about Connie? I can't just leave her there."

Troy shrugged "Bring her too. We're not risking getting her hurt in your place."

Gabriella looked at the ground and felt fresh tears run to her eyes. It's not that she wasn't grateful that Troy was doing this for her, it was the scare of getting a very certain someone pissed off.

"He'll find me. He'll beat down everyone's door until he finds me. I can't do this Troy. I don't want him to hurt you."

Troy's hand returned to her cheek as he stroked it, watching her eyes close. "I don't care. If he comes to my house, I'll hide you and Connie and tell him that you ran away. Did you ever try running away before?"

Gabriella nodded, her eyes still closed. It didn't take Troy very long to figure out that she was trying to hold in her tears. "I've tried more times than I can remember. I never made it past the lake without him finding me. He'd always send Connie off to a friends house and give me the biggest beatings of my life. My plan was to get to my mother's house and then come back for Connie. But it never worked. He'd always find me."

Troy's eyes fell to her legs. She was wearing leggings that went down to her ankles and black shoes that covered her whole foot. He knew that she couldn't stand to wear leggings, but with Jared's harsh marks, she had no other choice if she didn't want to be caught. It brought bile to Troy's throat.

"Does Connie know about it?" he asked, his hand still on her cheek. Gabriella opened her eyes, but only halfway. She didn't want to let her watery eyes leak the tears they were holding.

She shook her head "No. She's got no clue. And I want to keep it that way."

"Then what's your excuse when you come to live with me?"

Gabriella smiled as he mentioned moving in. It reminded him of how sweet he was. He didn't change a bit since high school.

"I'll tell her that Jared was cheating on me and we're getting a divorce. That way she doesn't find out about him beating me and it's not a lie."

"What do you mean it's not a lie?"

Gabriella took a deep, shaky breath as she explained "He's got a new whore every weekend that sneaks in the house. I'm locked out of the room and when she leaves, he drags me upstairs and he...he..." she couldn't finish. It was too painful and embarrassing.

"Connie wasn't planned, was she?" Troy seethed, starting to see red.

Gabriella shook her head "As much as I hate to admit it, no she wasn't. Every time she thanks me and Jared for giving birth to her, I have to excuse myself to cry in the bathroom."

"What happened?" Troy asked carefully, not wanting to trigger any bad memories.

Gabriella sighed "Well..."

**FLASHBACK (13 Years)**

_Gabriella held her breath. She couldn't believe that she was in this situation right now, but she had to pull through and get inside the house. She knew that she shouldn't have let her friend Nancy persuade her to come to her party, but Gabriella couldn't help it. She was just so sick of being pushed around by Jared that she had to let go and have a little fun. Little did she know that the consequences of her dangerous actions would be horrific._

_She took another step on the large tree right outside her bedroom window. She was climbing the tree and, thinking that Jared was out with his whore of the week, trying to get inside the house. She knew that if he wasn't home she could just walk in the front door, but she couldn't take any chances. If he was down in the living room with the lady, she would be in deep trouble. _

_She only had one last branch to climb. She was starting to sweat and her breathing was starting to hitch. They lived in a 3 story house that had very high ceilings, making the house all the more huge. She thought that the tree didn't look that big, but now she was cursing herself for being so stupid._

_She finally pulled herself over the windowsill and crawled through the window, trying to stifle a grunt. She landed on the fluffy bed and let out her moan, just laying there for a few minutes trying to catch her breath._

_She took a deep breath and congratulated herself for getting in the house safely and without getting caught. She maneuvered over to the bathroom door and opened it. She turned on the light and looked up. As soon as the light flashed on, she let out a scream._

"_Hello Gabriella." Jared growled, staring daggers into her skin with his cold, dangerous grey eyes._

"_J-Jared...I-I can explain-" Gabriella stammered, her voice full of fear. But she was cut off with a throbbing pain on her jawbone and later on the back of her head. She looked up and saw Jared towering over her, the most unloving look in his eyes._

"_Where've you been?" He asked sweetly, stepping on her stomach and adding pressure to his foot, crushing her._

_Gabriella bit her lip to hold back the scream trying to escape her throat. She answered quietly "I-I was...I was..."_

"_Out? Oh how fortunate for me." Jared smiled, grabbing Gabriella's hair by their roots and squeezing his hand into a fist, causing her to yelp. He slapped her across the face and whispered "Then I'm assuming that you're in a nice mood for a full night of loving."_

"_Jared, no, please don't!" Gabriella begged, knowing what he was talking about. Her and Jared had only had sex two times before. He was the one who had taken her virginity and he was the one who had called her useless in bed. For that, he left her alone sexually, but she had to pay for it with more beatings._

"_Don't argue with me you little slut! You're the one going out and probably getting in the pants of some other bastard when you're already married!" Jared shouted, kneeling down and punching her in the stomach. Connie was at a sleepover so she couldn't hear them._

"_I haven't been your wife for years..." Gabriella whispered under her breath, hoping that Jared couldn't hear. _

_Unfortunately, his eyes widened as he angrily spat "What was that?!"_

_Gabriella shut her eyes tightly as Jared's grip on her arm increased, sending blood dripping down her arm. "Nothing. I didn't say anything."_

_Jared's face became a bright shade of red as he kicked her in her stomach repeatedly, screaming "Don't...stomp...you...stomp...ever...stomp...disrespect...stomp...me...stomp...like...stomp...that...again!! Do you know who you're talking to?!"_

_Gabriella was now spitting up blood in the toilet, merciless tears cascading down her cheeks and neck, reaching her low shirt._

"_ANSWER ME!!" Jared demanded loudly, kicking her away from the toilet. He gave a sharp and painful kick in her side and sending her head crashing into the shower. Gabriella howled in pain, feeling her hair become damp with blood._

"_Jared, please..." she whispered to no one, trying to survive this torture. Her eyes drooped shut, but she felt her hair being pulled again as the tile surface faded into carpet. She opened her eyes, horrified to find herself in her room. Right next to the bed. This couldn't end well._

"_Jared, I'm begging you. Please don't!" Gabriella sobbed, unconsciously grabbing his leg._

_Jared scowled in disgust. He grabbed Gabriella by her neck and shoved her up to the wall, glaring at her straight in the eyes. As Gabriella felt her back hit the wall, Jared tightened his grip with every cry that she released from her throat. Jared growled "Don't touch me, you dirty whore. You don't know who you're messing with, do you? I thought that you'd learned the rules by now, but you proved me wrong." He moved his lips closer to her ear and whispered "I hate being wrong." Gabriella squealed in horror as she felt Jared attacking her ear, ripping at it and wetting it with his tongue. "You do know the price for making me angry, don't you?"_

_Gabriella nodded, feeling the blood from her ear dripping down her shoulder. "Yes, I know."_

_Jared grinned "Good. Will you struggle?"_

"_No."_

"_Will you protest?"_

"_No."_

"_Will you participate?"_

"_Yes..." she answered in a faint whisper._

"_Good. That's what I like to hear." With that said, Jared kissed her hard on the lips, pressing her head into the wall even more, if that was possible. Gabriella tried to kiss back, but there was just too much pressure. She felt him drag her over to the bed and throw himself on top of her, traveling down her neck and ripping off her shirt, revealing her exposed chest. No undershirt, no bra, nothing._

"_Oh Gabby, Gabby, Gabby. When are you ever going to learn?" Jared teased, automatically pulling off his shirt and jeans, leaving him in his blue boxers. Gabriella closed her eyes as Jared removed her skirt and panties, feeling her body everywhere. It was enough to make her sick. She could feel the pizza that she ate rising in her throat, but she kept it down._

_Jared took off his boxers and wasted no time. Gabriella screamed. This was how her sweet, innocent daughter Connie, was created._

**END FLASHBACK**

Troy stood there, unable to move. There was no doubt that he was angry about Gabriella being raped by her own husband, but he had expected this after all that she told him.

"I can't believe this..." he whispered, seeing the tears in his ex's eyes.

"I found out 3 weeks later. Jared just slapped me, called me a dirty whore, and left. I don't know how he loves Connie that much, but he does. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't trade Connie for the world, but it's just strange. He beats his wife and loves his child. I don't even know anymore."

Troy, once again, swept Gabriella up in his arms and whispered soothing words in her ear, attempting to calm her down. It worked. Soon enough, Gabriella found herself becoming weary in Troy's warm arms. She closed her eyes and even though she told herself that she wouldn't fall asleep, she felt herself slip out of consciousness and into dreamland. And for once, she didn't see blood or tears. Her usual nightmares backed off and made way for the sweet, blue skies of heaven. And she never planned on letting it go.

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**Aww! Gabby's moving in with Troy! Wonder how Jared's gonna take that? Not well, I might add. REVIEW!! Thnx :)**

**Rachel :)**


	7. End of Reunion

**LAST DAY OF SCHOOL BITCHES!!**

**I'M AN 8TH GRADER NOW!!**

**lol. Anyways, I just wanted to wait until my last day of schoolio to UP.**

**Anyways, this chapter doesn't have much in it. Just a relaxed kind of thing. Sharpay fights with Jared, the beginning's got some Troyella in it, we see Connie more, yada yada yada...**

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Troy sat against the fence and gazed at the slumbering woman in his arms, stroking her hair. She was still so beautiful. She didn't change a bit since their high school days. She was just so peaceful and serene when she was sleeping in his arms. He knew that she had nightmares when she was at home and in Jared's bed, but here, with him, she was at rest. She was an angel to him. She was his and he wasn't about to let her go again without a fight. He and Jared were at war now and no matter what, Troy would make sure that Jared would rot in-

**"_I'm going under, drowning in you, I'm falling forever, I've got to break through, I'm going under..."_**

Gabriella jolted awake at the sound of her phone and rummaged through her purse to find it. She finally did and answered "Hello?"

"Where are you?!" Jared demanded "You've been gone for an hour and 45 minutes and it's starting to get boring around here!"

Gabriella sighed "Sorry Jared. We'll be right there. We're at the park."

Jared growled "If I find any hickies or swollen lips, I swear to God-"

"We didn't do anything! We were just catching up and lost track of time. I promise, his hair is greased and you won't find one messed up curl on my head. Okay?"

Jared huffed "Whatever. We're leaving in 5 minutes. So get your ass back here or else."

Gabriella answered "Okay, we'll be there soon." With that, she hung up.

She turned to Troy, who asked "He thought that we were-"

"Yeah," Gabriella sighed "He cheats on me, but I'm the one who has to be faithful."

Troy took her hand in his and intertwined their fingers together, replying "Don't worry. I'll make sure that he won't touch you after you move in with me."

"Promise is a big word Troy..." Gabriella worried aloud, bowing her head to the ground and away from Troy's eyes.

Troy lifted her chin to face him and whispered "I'm bigger."

Gabriella couldn't help but smile. He was always so dedicated to his word. It was extremely easy to trust him and very hard for him to lose it.

"Okay. I trust you Troy. That's something that I don't do that much."

Troy grinned "Well then I guess I'm special."

Gabriella giggled "Don't get cocky with me, Mr. Bolton."

"It's just natural, Ms. Montez."

Gabriella corrected "I'm married Troy."

Troy shook his head "I don't recall the definition of the word 'husband' reading 'abuses wife'."

Gabriella looked at the ground again and said "I'm scared Troy. What if he finds us? I don't wanna drag you into this and get you hurt."

Troy softly stroked her cheek and replied "Don't worry. Protecting you is my main priority. I'm not gonna be selfish with stuff like this. You're safe with me."

Gabriella smiled and leaned up, kissing his now blushing cheek.

"Come on," she grinned "They're probably wondering where we are."

Troy hazily nodded, letting Gabriella grab his wrist and drag him back to the school.

--

Gabriella and Troy stepped into the school 5 minutes later and sought out Sharpay. Gabriella groaned when she saw her best friend having a heated conversation with Jared. The two walked over to the fighting duo and said "Hey."

Sharpay turned her red face over to Gabriella and growled "Gabby, tell your jackass of a husband that you're sleeping over."

"Huh?" Gabriella asked, ignoring Jared's glare that screamed "SAY NO OR ELSE!!"

Sharpay explained "Me and Zeke decided that the gang needs to catch up and since we have the biggest house, we should all have a sleepover. Everyone's said yes except for you. Since you and Troy were out, I made the mistake of asking Jared. He keeps saying no."

Troy piped up "What about me? You didn't ask me yet."

"Sorry," Sharpay apologized. "Do you wanna sleep over?"

"Sure." Troy smiled. He gave Gabriella a pleading look. Gabriella glanced over at Jared, who kept the glare on his face. She sighed "Where's Connie?"

"Talking to Taylor." Sharpay answered. "So, what'll it be? You won't see us again for another 7 years."

Gabriella bit her lip. She knew what she was in for when she saw Jared again, but she was moving in with Troy. She was safe with him. He promised.

"I want Connie to meet the gang. Can she stay over too?" Gabriella asked boldly. She saw Jared's jaw drop and his angry eyes widening.

"Sure! I have some old clothes from high school that are still in style that I've been trying to get rid of. She can try them on while we adults talk." Sharpay said hopefully.

Gabriella sighed "Okay. I'm staying over too."

Jared interrupted "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Wait a minute! What about Orlando? You told your boss that you would be back on Monday. We need to get back to Florida. There's no time for sleepovers and parties." He gave Gabriella a look that told her that he wasn't playing around.

"I can take a sick day."

"What about me? I have a job too!"

"Just follow my example and take a sick day. It's not that hard." Gabriella knew that she would die if she was alone with him again.

Jared locked his jaw. It took everything he had to restrain from punching her in public. He planned on giving her the worst beating of her life when she returned to the hotel the next day.

"Whatever." He finally answered. He saw Gabriella advert her eyes to the ground when he said that. She knew what he would do to her when they were alone again. It sent a smirk to his face. "You can sleep over. You wanna come back to the hotel with me to get your things?"

"She doesn't have to," Sharpay cut in, glowering at him. "I have tons of pajamas from when I was a teenager that she can wear."

"What about Connie?" Gabriella asked.

"My niece left her pajamas at my house from the last time she slept over. Connie can wear those. Their comfy and really cute." Sharpay replied with ease. Gabriella sighed in relief at the thought of not having to go back to the hotel with Jared.

"Okay. Then it's settled." Troy beamed, feeling Gabriella's happiness.

"Yeah, I guess it is," Jared added, his evil grey eyes boring into Gabriella's skin. Boy, was she in for it.

"Where are the others?" Gabriella asked, trying to change the subject.

"Over there," Sharpay pointed towards the stairs leading up to the second floor. "I think Connie's over there too."

"Thanks." Gabriella thanked. She grabbed Troy and strutted over to the others.

As Jared watched her walk off, Sharpay turned to him and mocked "So, you gonna be lonely tonight now that you don't have your toy?"

"What are you talking about?!" Jared spat at the blonde.

"Oh please, you know exactly what I'm talking about!" Sharpay seethed. "I see the way you treat Gabby. She's nothing but dirt to you!"

"You don't know anything about me or our marriage!" Jared glared at her.

"I know enough," Sharpay finalized. "And I know that Gabby's not happy with you. I knew something was wrong with you since day one and let me tell you something. Tonight, Gabriella's gonna open up to me and tell me what's really going on with you and her."

"So what are you saying?" Jared teasingly said through clenched teeth, trying not to lunge at Sharpay.

Sharpay replied sharply "I'm saying that I'm gonna get you out of Gabriella's life and she'll thank me for it. I swear, I see the look in her eyes that says that something's wrong with this relationship and until I figure out what it is, I'm gonna keep her as far away from you as possible. You got all that?"

Jared took a deep breath and grinned, shaking his head and closing her eyes. He started walking towards Sharpay and, causing her to back up with every step he took, said "Listen here blondie. I'm treating Gabriella like an effing princess and it would take a total dumbass to think that something's wrong with us. She loves me, can't you see that? You're just interested in creating drama, just like you were in high school. Why are you so dedicated to ruining marriages? Nothing's wrong with us except for you. You're nosy, ignorant, and way too interested in other people's business. So if you think you'll get anything out of Gabriella, you're gonna be really disappointed later. Now do _you_ have all _that_? Because if you need me to say it slower for your retarded brain, I'll gladly-" Smack.

"Don't you dare call me stupid." Sharpay sharply seethed, lowering the hand that she just used the slap Jared with. "I'm only caring for my best friend, you stupid piece of shit. I know you. You're just the same way you were in high school. Only after sex, sex, and more sex. Well I got news for you Skippy. You won't be seeing anymore of Gabriella for the rest of your pathetic life. She's moving out and divorcing you, just like she should've done a long time ago. I don't know why she ever married you. You're nothing but a waste of time and energy. So just stay away from my best friend until you hear otherwise."

Jared stood there, frozen. How dare she? Does she know who she's messing with? This is Jared Carter, former captain of East High's football team, one of the most popular boys in school, and considered the second hottest male. First place went to Troy.

"You're gonna pay for this Evans..." Jared seethed.

"Go tell it to someone who'll listen to your crap Carter. Oh and FYI, I'm almost married. So if we're on a last name basis, it's Baylor, not Evans."

Jared didn't say anything else. He just watched her walk off toward her crowd of friends surrounding the punch table. _"Mental note,"_ he thought to himself _"Burn Evans's house down after kicking Gabriella's ass..."_

Back at the table, Troy was watching the fight between Sharpay and Jared and to be honest, he was extremely impressed. No one was ever bold enough to lay a finger on Jared in high school, let alone slap him. Sharpay was always confident. That's what made her so bubbly.

"Hey guys." Sharpay introduced herself.

"Hey honey," Zeke kissed her on the forehead. "Me and Troy saw you over there with Jared. You've got more guts than I thought."

Sharpay rolled her eyes "That was nothing. I let him off easy compared to what I wanted to do to him."

"Push him off the Empire State Building?" Troy sarcastically asked.

"Yes actually. Then watch him burn in a fire." Sharpay grinned.

"Well as much as we all wanna do something bad to him," Troy interrupted their violent thoughts "We have to remember that he's married to someone we all love."

"Some love her more than others Troy." Sharpay teased.

Troy, blushing, shoved her shoulder and murmured "Shut up. That was in high school."

Sharpay placed a hand on her hip and rolled her eyes "Oh bullshit Troy. You know you can't let go of her. That's why you took her on that walk. You hoped to get something out of her."

"I did." Troy whispered to himself, hoping that no one heard him. It didn't work.

"What was that?" Zeke asked. Sharpay's ears perked up as she eyed Troy suspiciously.

"Nothing. I didn't say anything." Troy quickly answered nervously.

"Troy, is there something you're not telling us?" Sharpay asked.

Troy sighed and gave up "Look, Gabriella told me something that isn't easy to repeat."

"What?" Sharpay desperately asked, her eyes wide.

Troy took a deep breath and started "Well...she...uhh...her and Jared...he...he..."

"Hey guys." Kelsi greeted, giving Troy a hug. "So, have you heard that Gabriella's here?!"

Troy nodded "Yeah, I just took her for a walk."

"Is Jared here?" Kelsi hopefully asked.

"Yeah."

"Good. I wanna kill him." Kelsi started off for him, but Troy grabbed her arm and pulled her back. "Whoa Ms. Nielson! Don't do anything you won't regret."

"Who ever said I was gonna regret it?"

"You know you will. When Gabby's at his funeral, she's gonna blame you for it and never speak to you again."

Kelsi sighed angrily, knowing that he was right. She mumbled "Whatever. I still hate him."

Troy laughed "Don't we all?"

"You got that right." Zeke agreed with his friend.

"Okay, where is she anyways?" Kelsi asked, looking around.

"Troy, when does this end again?" Gabriella came up behind him.

"GABBY!!" Kelsi screamed, wrapping her arms around her friend.

Gabriella almost tripped and fell, but managed to keep her balance. She hugged her friend back and yelled "Kelsi! Haven't seen you in years! How are you doing?"

Kelsi beamed "I'm better now. I'm just moved in with Jason last month and I'm getting hints of proposal!"

Gabriella's mouth dropped. She always knew that they would get married one day. _"Just like me and Troy should have done..."_ she thought to herself.

"Kels, that's great!" She giggled. "Has he been acting nervous around you at all?"

"Yeah."

"Has he been going places and won't tell you where?"

"He just did that last week."

"Has he been trying to ask you a question, but flakes out and runs off?"

"He's done that twice."

"Then it's official!" Gabriella laughed "He wants to marry you!"

Kelsi squealed and buried Gabriella in another hug. "Thanks Gabby. Should I ask him since he won't ask me?"

"No! He'll build up his confidence soon. He's a shy guy. It'll take him a while. Just drop some hints here and there, okay?" Gabriella advised.

"Thanks Gabriella. You're the greatest." Kelsi thanked her, running off the Jason.

Gabriella took a deep breath and turned back to Troy, who had relieved eyes. "What's wrong?" she asked him.

"What do you mean?"

"You look like someone just saved you from getting killed. What's up?"

Troy shook his head and lied "Nothing. By the way, this ends in 10 minutes, so go get your stuff and we'll meet you and Connie out at the car in 5 minutes."

"Wait, if it ends in 10 minutes then why are we-"

"Traffic."

"Oh yeah."

"Yeah. So go get your stuff and Connie. I'll see you out there." Troy instructed.

"Okay. Be right back." Gabriella dismissed herself. She walked over to the table that she put her stuff on and grabbed her purse. Just as she was about to walk over to Connie, someone grabbed her arm and dug their nails into her skin. She spun around and gulped when she looked into Jared's cold, hideous grey eyes.

"Don't think you're off the hook 'cause you're not," he seethed "When you get home, you're so screwed."

Gabriella couldn't speak. She just nodded and took off across the room. She finally reached Taylor and Connie, who were laughing their butts off.

"What'd I miss?" Gabriella asked.

"Oh nothing," Taylor replied "Me and Chad were just telling her some stories of you in high school." Gabriella blushed.

"I didn't know you dated Troy," Connie put in. "All I have to say is, you're lucky. He's hot!"

"Yeah, yeah. He was hotter in high school." Gabriella teased.

"Holy crap! You can get hotter than that?!" Connie's eyes widened.

"Yeah. I'll show you the yearbook when we get to Sharpay's house."

"Who's 'we'?" Connie asked, confused.

"Oh yeah. You and me are spending the night at my best friend's house. Is that okay with you?" Gabriella asked.

"Sure, but what about dad?" Connie asked.

Gabriella replied "He doesn't want to. He wasn't exactly close to any of my friends."

Connie nodded. She grabbed her purse and her jacket, said goodbye to her father, and followed her mother out to Troy's car.

As Connie got in the backseat, Gabriella walked up to Troy and nervously asked "Should I tell her about the new living arrangement tonight?"

Troy nodded "I don't see why you shouldn't. This includes her too."

"I know," Gabriella replied "I'm just scared. This is all so new to her and she just met you and-"

Troy silenced his ex with a finger put to her lips. Gabriella blushed while Troy said "Gabby, don't worry about it. I'm sure that she'll be a little upset, but if we tell her the truth, she'll understand that you and her need to get out."

"What do you mean by if _we_ tell her the truth?"

Troy shrugged "I'm not gonna let you tell her alone. Things like this require assistance. I'm only here to help you."

Gabriella smiled at him. She once again kissed his cheek and said "Thanks Troy. This means a lot to me."

"No problem."

With that, Gabriella got in the passenger seat while Troy got in the driver's side. He started the car and as they drove away, Gabriella could see Jared staring at the car with his hateful eyes. Hopefully that would be the last time Gabriella would ever see them.

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**Yeah, not much to it. REVIEW!! Thnx :)**

**Rachel :)**

**Gabriella's ringtone is the chorus to "Going Under" by Evanescence :)**


	8. Telling the Others

**So it's been over a year and I'm not even going to try to come up with some crappy excuse. Sorry guys, hope this makes up for it.**

**Chapter 6 – Telling the Others**

Gabriella pulled up to the house and smiled, staring out the back window in awe. The house was gorgeous. Two stories of stain-free windows surrounded by beautiful pink-grey rocks that made up the structure of the house. A wide spread, wooden porch fenced with thin white poles stood proudly in front of the door. She giggled to herself. Figures that Sharpay would convince Zeke to get a pink house.

Troy and Connie came around the side of the car after realizing that she didn't get out yet. Troy followed her eyes, grinned, and as if reading her mind, said "Yeah, wait until you see the inside."

Gabriella gave him a skeptical glance before he opened her door and helped her out of the car with an outstretched hand. Gabriella slung her purse over her shoulder before her and Connie followed Troy up to the front porch. Connie looked around and let out a low whistle, murmuring "Wow, these people are loaded. What do they do?"

Troy chuckled and easily replied "Zeke just opened his own restaurant and Shar's the local mall manager."

"Huh, should've seen that coming…" Gabriella arched her eyebrows.

Troy shrugged. "Yeah, and I guess the fact that her parents were loaded helps their finances a little."

Gabriella stopped short, turning to Troy with wide eyes and worry evident in her voice. "Wait, _were_? As in they're-"

Troy nodded, looking down at the ground with the slight sorrow that had entered his face. Gabriella stuttered "When? How? Where?"

Troy answered with a sigh. "A few years ago when they were on a cruise near the Gulf of Mexico. They went deep sea diving and their oxygen tanks gave out before they came up. The family sued the cruise line for almost all they had."

"How'd Shar take it?" Gabriella asked cautiously, already knowing the obvious answer.

Troy recalled "She was a bipolar mess. First she couldn't stop crying, and then she got mad as hell for a few weeks. She was actually the one who suggested that they sue. After that, she tried to hide her depression, she cried more, got mad, and finally Zeke talked some sense into her. Seriously, Gabs, none of us got any sleep for almost a year. And this was around the time I was going through my divorce."

Gabriella frowned. "Poor Sharpay…"

Troy nodded. "Yeah, just make sure not to mention anything in front of her or Ryan. And if something slips, you didn't get it from me."

Gabriella's face brightened at the sound of Ryan's name. Connie asked "Who's Ryan? Does she have a brother?"

Gabriella nodded. "Yeah, they're twins." She turned back to Troy. "Why wasn't he at the reunion?"

Troy shrugged. "I don't know, all Sharpay said was that he had a 'romantic emergency'. I think his girlfriend got hurt or something."

"He finally got a girlfriend?"

Troy chuckled. "Yup, they've been going strong for about six months now. They're even talking about moving in together."

"Good for him. How's he doing, anyway?"

"He's fine." The three spun around to find Sharpay and Zeke walking up the stairs, Sharpay leaning on her fiancée for support regarding her obvious stomach. "He and Aubrey make a good couple."

"Did she get hurt?" Connie asked.

Sharpay shook her head and glared at Troy playfully. "Troy, you really need to shut up about her getting hurt. Her mother just had a kidney transplant, you idiot."

Troy placed his hands in front of him and backed up a few steps, defending himself. "Hey, I was just saying what I heard. No need to get all defensive of the girl and her man candy."

Sharpay rolled her eyes. "What did you hear, your 6th grade imagination talking again?"

Zeke stepped in between the bickering friends and interrupted "Sorry, Troy. The pregnant, hormonal blonde strikes again."

Troy shrugged. "Ehh, it's cool. At least I'm not the one who has to deal with it 24/7."

Sharpay raised her hand and sarcastically piped up "Hello? Still only two feet away from you guys making fun of me and something I can't control here!" She turned to Zeke and barked "And it takes two to make a baby, smart one, so I don't want to hear it."

Zeke held her face in his hands and softly kissed her forehead, murmuring "Sorry, sweetie. Why don't you go in and get a shower while we wait down here for the others to come?"

The blonde smiled and kissed her fiancée on the lips. "Be back down in a jiffy. Don't wait up." With that, she disappeared inside the house.

Gabriella giggled. "Zeke, I've got to be honest with you. I thought that once Shar was pregnant, she'd be a hell of a lot worse than she actually is. How'd you do that?"

Zeke shrugged. "I didn't really do anything. She told me that I just motivated her to become a better person or something. She never really was all that bad once you got to know her."

Troy shook his head and replied "Can I just put in my two-cents from the peanut gallery?"

"What, Troy?" Zeke and Gabriella both annoyingly said in unison, making them smile.

"I always thought that you would just crash and burn like the rest of the guys did at our school, but I've got to admit, Zeke, you actually cracked the nut. She was always this-"

"And you're done," Zeke interrupted again. "I think I should be flattered, am I right?"

Troy nodded. "That's what I was going for, yes."

Zeke rolled his eyes. "That was good, but choose your words a little more carefully next time. This is how people get shanked."

Troy hung his shoulders and mumbled "Yes, mom."

Five minutes later, two cars pulled into the huge driveway and out stepped Chad, Taylor, Jason, and Kelsi. The four walked up to the porch and Jason started "Hey, guys. Sorry we're late, but Chad wanted to stop for a few six-packs first."

Gabriella's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as she angrily grabbed a fistful of Chad's hair and growled "Let me get this straight, you want to drink and supposedly get drunk in front of my thirteen-year old daughter?"

Chad dropped to his knees as Gabriella's every word caused her to squeeze harder and harder towards his sore scalp. He squeaked "Now, now, Gabs, I never intended on getting drunk or anything. I just wanted to celebrate having you back, that's all."

Gabriella just squeezed harder. "Chad Michael Danforth, if you so much as touch one of those beers, I will personally make sure that it's never opened because it'll be so far up your-"

"Mom!" Connie stepped forward, unlatching her mother's fingers from Chad's bruised head. "Dad drinks all the time back at home. I'm fine. It's not like I'll be drinking with you."

Chad crawled back over to his giggling wife and hid his head under her knee-length dress. "Yeah, Gabs, besides it's light beer and will barely do anything."

Taylor smacked his cheek, barking "That won't end well for you. What are you, already drunk?"

Chad crossed his legs and sat on the top step, crossing his huge arms over his chest and mumbled "I don't get to do anything around here anymore…"

Taylor patted his head and sweetly teased "Aww, sweetie, you know you never did in the first place." Chad just rolled his eyes and continued sulking like a toddler. Troy muffled his laughs behind tight lips.

Zeke sighed and spoke up. "Okay, back in adult world, I guess Sharpay can loan the girls some clothes for the night and the guys can use my stuff. Chad, you might have to use my brother's old sweats because I don't think I have any clothes big enough to fit you."

Still looking away from the group, Chad scoffed "Oh, great, so now I'm too _fat_ for you? Is there anything I can do right anymore?" Taylor kicked his leg and just rolled her eyes.

Gabriella asked hopefully "Does she still have those pink and black pajamas that she always used to wear back in high school?"

Taylor piped up "Ooh! Or those blue silk ones that she wore on the last day of our junior year?! I almost dropped dead when I saw those things!"

Troy mocked their voices in his best high-pitched voice "Oh my God, does she still have those baby-blue pumps that she wore to senior prom? I was about to rip those off her feet, throw them in my Prada tote, and drive away in my pink Prius!" Connie busted out laughing and complimented "Good one."

Troy grinned. "Thanks, I try my best."

Zeke shook his head at his friend and said "I don't know if she still does or not, since I'm not like Gaylord over here," he pointed to Troy, who just smiled cheekily back at him. "But knowing her, she probably still does have them somewhere up in the attic. She made me move all of her clothes from her teenage years up into the attic since she got pregnant because apparently they remind her of how fat she is."

Taylor shrugged. "Figures. Same old Sharpay worrying about every hair on her head."

Chad mumbled something under his breath that sounded like "…so many chemicals it'll probably fall out in the next two years…" Taylor threw her hand over his mouth and sharply whispered "You've got one more time before I cut your life short."

The sky seemed to crack open from above them, suddenly making them jump five feet into the air. A few seconds later, it started pouring down rain. Chad lurched back onto the porch and checked his head, whining "My hair! Is my hair okay?!"

Zeke rolled his eyes and announced "I think Mother Nature's telling us to quit stalling and just get inside the house already. Come on."

Zeke was the first one in the house, leading everyone else in and to the living room where they would be sleeping. Gabriella and Connie gasped at the spacious, Victorian-based room. Gabriella kicked off her heels and Connie stepped out of her flats, walking onto the white, softer-than-a-cloud carpet. They stared at the white couches and the silver and black throw pillows neatly organized on the sides. There was a cute fireplace in the center of the wall with a wooden mantle hovering over it, displaying Sharpay's antique silver glass clock and two white vases bordering it. Rose heads hung from the mantle from a plastic vine and draped off the sides of the fireplace. Windows gave two perfect views of the storm from both sides, with the white and silver striped curtains brushed to the side elegantly. Connie's eyes nearly popped out of her head when she saw the 50 inch plasma screen television hanging on the wall opposite the couches.

"Holy mother of crap!" she exclaimed, walking up to it. "Is this the new one from Apple?"

Zeke nodded. "Yup, Sharpay saw the first commercial and nearly broke her legs running out to the car to go get it. She's still working to pay it off with extra shifts at the mall."

"I bet…" Connie whispered as she took a look at it from the side, seeing nearly nothing. "God, this thing's thinner than they lead on."

"Yeah. Get's great HD too."

"Awesome…"

Footsteps descended down the stairs and Sharpay emerged from the corner clad in light pink silk pajamas and a hot pink fluffy robe. Her feet were stuffed in her old puppy slippers that she's had since the eighth grade. Her hair was brushed into its natural waves and her makeup was washed off, leaving her face glowing, pretty, but very tired. She cradled her stomach and smiled. "I see you idiots have finally decided to come in."

Gabriella beamed "And I'm glad we did. Sharpay, it's amazing in here. Did you design this yourself?"

Sharpay nodded. "Yup. Ryan and Aubrey helped me with a lot of the work, too."

"Where was Zeke?" Gabriella eyed to chocolate-colored man with suspicion, making him roll his eyes.

Sharpay quickly replied. "Leave him alone, Gabby, he was busy with his restaurant preparations, so it's understandable. All of his hard work really paid off." She smiled lovingly at her fiancée, who grinned right back and mouthed "Thank you."

Gabriella said "I feel so bad that I've never been there."

Troy turned to her and offered "I'll take you two sometime." He gestured to Connie. "Next time you visit." He added once everyone gave him a puzzled look. Gabriella nodded, her head low so that no one could see her old habit of looking at the floor when she was guilty or nervous, which in this case was both. "Thanks…" she murmured.

Troy lifted her chin so that she could meet his soft eyes. "Don't mention it." The look he was giving her implied to her that he meant that phrase literally and that they shouldn't say anything else about it until a later time that night, when they were both ready for everyone else to know their recent arrangement.

Ten minutes later, the gang was washed up and in more comfortable clothes. Their formal attire was all taken care of inside the washing machine and Zeke had dragged a bunch of blankets and pillows down to the living room, a few for their heads and Sharpay's special pregnancy pillow for her back. The men, excluding Chad, were all wearing Zeke's old East High basketball t-shirts and red shorts, faded from old age. Chad reluctantly wore Zeke's brother Barry's ancient, stained sweatpants. He absolutely refused to wear his sweatshirt, which still had yellow armpit stains, so he just stripped down to his black sleeveless t-shirt that he wore under his formal one.

The girls were happy as well. Sharpay had led them pajama hunting in the attic, which was more like a giant mall trip for them, especially Connie who about died when she saw the size of the blonde's closet. Taylor got her wish and snatched up Sharpay's old blue silk ones, which surprisingly fit snugly to her body. Gabriella smiled widely when she spotted her cute black and pink set, but it was immediately wiped off of her face when she remembered the various bruises on her arms and legs. The top was sleeveless and the pants were cut off at the knees. Gabriella's calves were the most horrific area on her entire body at this time, due to the fact that Jared had shoved her down the stairs the week before. Connie rushed to the scene when she heard her mother's scream and helped her up off of the floor. Jared ran down the stairs a few seconds afterward and feigned his best concern face, asking his wife if she was alright. He squeezed her arm harder than necessary and Gabriella didn't have a choice. She let him win once again.

The memory brought tears to Gabriella's eyes and sent shivers down her spine. She clutched the fabric tightly in her hands. Maybe she could just tell Sharpay that the clothes wouldn't fit her anymore and that she needed something else.

"Gabriella, are these okay?" Sharpay asked her. She then looked at her arms and added "You're shivering. Are you cold, because I can give you a shirt that you can wear under that. And you can keep your leggings on."

Gabriella blinked for a second. This had worked out better than she hoped. "Yeah, thanks. I guess my skin's still way too sensitive like it was back then."

The gang sat scattered around the Baylor living room, doing various things. Taylor, Sharpay, and Kelsi sat in a row on the sofa chatting about the baby currently residing in Sharpay's swollen stomach. Gabriella and Connie sat on the loveseat while Troy sat beside Gabriella's feet, talking to Zeke and Jason who were leaning against the side of the couch and Chad lay on his stomach in front of the flat screen, flipping through the channels to see if anything good was on. He eventually gave up and tossed the remote to the side, saying dejectedly "Looks like we're stuck with talking, guys."

Taylor narrowed her eyes at her husband. "Is that such a bad thing?"

Chad flinched away and curled his knees into his chest, mumbling "No, ma'am…"

Kelsi sighed and changed the subject before a fight could break out. "Gabby, why are you wearing so many clothes? It's probably 70 degrees in here."

Before Gabriella could respond, Connie piped up from beside her. "Mom, we're not in public anymore. You can stop trying to hide your bruises now."

"What bruises?" Sharpay asked sharply.

Connie replied "She fell down the stairs last week. All two flights. I'm surprised she didn't break or sprain anything."

Gasps could be heard throughout the entire room from everyone except Troy. He just spun around and, with eyes that could stun a person to death, asked in a low voice. "You _fell_ down the stairs?" His tone implied that he was probably the only one who knew what really happened.

Gabriella let her neck turn to mush as she nodded. "I tripped." Troy's eyes must have had some magnetic force to them because Gabriella felt the need to look up under her lashes and meet hers to his. What she saw made her internally cringe. Troy's jaw was locked shut and his eyes glittered with fury. His fist was clenched around the pillow on the couch and the other looked like it was ready to implode. They looked so tight that Gabriella quickly wondered how long it would take his palms to start bleeding from his nails.

Jason concerned "Oh, I was wondering why you were so covered up at the reunion. How bad are they?"

Gabriella gulped and rolled up the sleeve of her right arm, showing everyone the same bruise that Troy saw earlier at the park. Everyone gasped again and Troy just turned his head away, closing his eyes and breathing deeply. He knew that she was confirming his suspicion.

Taylor got up from her spot on the sofa and went to sit beside her embarrassed friend, rubbing her shoulder and saying "Gabriella, that's horrible, but you don't have to hide from us. We're not going to judge you."

Gabriella shook her head and toyed with the end of her sleeve. "No, I'm fine. I'd rather you not see anything else." Her eyes switched to Troy, making sure he knew that she was speaking directly to him. His hand had created a tiny hole in the pillow and his eyes were fixed on the spot on her wrist with a look that could melt metal. She knew that if anyone even mentioned Jared's name or anything about him, Troy would lose it completely.

"Where was Jared when all of this happened?" He carefully said, keeping his voice low and dangerous.

"Right behind me. I guess we were standing so close that my heel got caught on his foot and down I went. I went too fast for him to try and catch me in time." He nodded slowly and met her eyes with a look that said _"You need to tell them soon before I do."_ Gabriella bobbed her head once and then motioned it to Connie.

Troy cleared his throat to clear up the awkward aura that had filled the room. "Uhh, Sharpay, did you finally clear out your shoe room to make way for the baby yet?"

Connie perked up. "Shoe room?" Troy smirked.

Sharpay rolled her eyes. "What, do you think I'm an idiot? I moved them all to the attic. What size are you, Connie?"

"8"

Sharpay smiled again. "Well then I think we've got another tour for you to take. Come on." The teen squealed and jumped to her feet, following Sharpay out of the room.

Troy got up from the floor and sat down in Connie's place on the loveseat, taking Gabriella's hand in his. "You ready?"

Chad asked "Ready for what?"

Gabriella shook her head and replied "I never will be, but I guess I have to do it now. You'll help me, right?"

"Help you with what?"

Troy scooted a little closer to his ex and let her rest her head in the crook of his neck, reassuring her "Of course I will. You'll be fine, I promise."

"Would someone please allow us the benefit of telling us what the hell you're talking about?" Chad impatiently groaned, crossing his arms again. Taylor just growled in her spot across from him.

Gabriella took a deep, shaky breath and softly started. "Guys, there's something I have to tell you. But before I do, I have to assure you that I'm fine now."

"What's wrong, Gabby?" Kelsi concerned.

Gabriella looked up into Troy's kind eyes for strength and he nodded, rubbing her back affectionately. She rolled up her sleeve again, showing them one of her many bruises again. "I lied to all of you about how I got this. Connie can't know about how this happened and I want to keep it that way for a while. But now that she's gone, I want to take this opportunity to tell you what's going on with me."

Taylor cut in. "Gabriella, did you do that to yourself? Because if you're depressed, then we can always get you-"

"No, Taylor, I'm not a self-harmer and I'm not…well, I'm not depressed anymore."

"Anymore?" Jason said. "Wait, so you didn't fall down the stairs? What's going on?"

Gabriella sighed and rolled up the rest of her sleeve, then revealed her other arm, and then finally her legs. The room was stunned into silence as everyone, including Troy, gazed upon the sickly looking skin discolorations that covered almost every inch of her skin. They all looked relatively new and hadn't yellowed over yet. Gabriella kept her eyes on her lap, not wanting to see everyone's reaction to the secret that she was about to reveal to them after all these years of hiding.

"Gabriella, what's going on? What happened to you?" Taylor demanded, boring her eyes into Gabriella's as best she could.

A lone tear ran down her cheek as she whispered the three words that could never be said in the same sentence before. She drew in a sharp breath and whimpered "Jared…beats…me." Troy squeezed her hand and looked up at her approvingly, mouthing "Good job."

The others, however, weren't so approving. Some of them were again shocked into silence and some took immediate action. Chad sprang to his feet and clenched every single muscle inside his huge body, screeching "What did you just say?!"This time, Taylor didn't stop him.

Gabriella repeated "Jared did all this. Ever since we got together, you know he hasn't been the nicest guy, but he didn't start hitting me until a month after we got married. Before that, he was just all talk and threatened me to do everything I've ever done. He told me not to go to college by freezing my bank account, I couldn't talk to any of my friends or family because he moved us to Florida and tracked all of my calls by giving me a Go Phone, and he forced me to break up with Troy by showing me the knife he was going to use." Troy flinched. "When I got pregnant with Connie, though, he didn't touch me. He acted like an actual human being. He let me go to all of my appointments without following me and he even drove me to the hospital when I went into labor."

"He just went back to verbal abuse, didn't he?" Jason seethed in between his teeth.

Gabriella nodded. "He called me a fat pig every day and always complained that there was no food in the house except for comfort food. Then when I went into labor at three in the morning, he kept muttering for me to shut up and asked if I could've held it off any longer. But he acted like a concerned father the whole time we were at the hospital. He even helped me through the childbirth."

"How long did it take for him to go back to being the son of a bitch that I'm going to kill?" Chad growled, his entire body trembling in anger.

Gabriella shrugged. "Longer than I expected. About two months, I think. He let me on my bed rest for as long as the doctor told me and then the day he told me I could get back on my feet, I walk downstairs and before I know it, I'm on the floor with him over me. He told me-"

Taylor put a finger to her lips and said "Don't say anything else. We don't want to know what he said, why he said it, or what you did before he said it. All that matters is that he put his hands on you, Gabriella. How often does he hit you?"

"At least twice every day. He gets really bad about once every two weeks when Connie's at a friend's house." She sniffled and Troy wiped away her upcoming tears, whispering encouraging comforts in her ear.

Kelsi spoke up from the other side of the room. "Gabby, you do realize that you have to get out right now, right? You should have left the first time he ever threatened you back in high school."

Gabriella sighed. "I know, Kelsi, but I got scared. You didn't hear the things that he said to me and the things he said that he'd do and-"

"That doesn't matter, Brie. No matter what he says, you can't stay there. Do you realize that he could've killed you a long time ago?"

"Who killed who?" The gang spun around to see the pregnant blonde entering the room, holding her stomach and leaning on the wall. "What are we talking about?"

Kelsi looked over at Gabriella and gave her a look, saying "What are we talking about, Gabby?"

Gabriella gulped and lowered her head even more, choking back tears. Troy kissed her temple and whispered "Can you do it twice?"

Gabriella shook her head, whimpering "No, I can't do it. Please help me."

Troy took a deep breath and cleared his throat, announcing to Sharpay "Jared has been mercilessly abusing Gabriella for the past fourteen years and now everybody wants to kill him more than ever. Connie has absolutely no idea about what's going on and she's planning on keeping it that way. She needs help. Now."

Sharpay just stood there with her arms crossed, staring at Troy with wide eyes and a tight mouth. Her facial color drained from her face as her head slowly swiveled around to look at Gabriella, who was curled up on the side of the couch with Troy's arm around her shoulder. Her cheeks were tear-streaked and still coming down occasionally, tinting her eyes pink and bloodshot. Sharpay inhaled deeply through her nose and nodded slowly, holding up a finger to the group before her. She disappeared into the kitchen for a second and then reappeared, heading for the front door.

"Sweetie," Zeke carefully called. "Where are you going?" He got up and scurried to follow her out of the room. The gang waited for a second before they heard him bellow "Sharpay! No! Put it down!"

The blonde came storming back into the room, her eyes ablaze with ferocious rage and terrorizing fury. She was trembling in anger from head to toe. Even the 13" sterling silver cutting blade clutched tightly in her left hand was shaking.

Zeke ran after her and grabbed her by the shoulders, desperately telling her "Sharpay, calm down! You don't want to do this!"

"The hell I don't!" She slapped his hands away and headed to get her raincoat from the closet. "I knew he was insane! I'm seriously killing him this time, Zeke!"

Zeke raced in record time to rip the coat from her red-hot hands. "No you're not. You're not because you know it's wrong and this can be dealt with rationally."

Sharpay shoved him a few feet away from her and shouted "_Rational?!_ You want me to be _rational_ after what I just heard?! What I'm going to do to that little sick piece of shit is nothing compared to what he could've done to my best friend, Zeke!"

Zeke threw his arms around his fiancé's waist and carefully dragged her heavy body back to the group, who was just as angry as Sharpay was. Chad and Jason even began to complain. "Come on, man! Let her go kill him!"

Zeke shook his head. "I don't feel like postponing the wedding until she's finished serving her five-to-ten in prison." Sharpay continued to thrash around in his hold and shriek for him to let go of her. He gave her one tight squeeze around her body and reminded her of the one thing that he knew would make her calm down. "Babe, you know that stress isn't good for the baby. You don't want to have a miscarriage, do you?"

Sharpay sucked in one long breath and let it out in small huffs, letting the rest of her anger leave her body through the perspiration falling from her forehead. She gritted her teeth and slammed her eyes shut, murmuring "Damn pregnancy!"

Zeke stroked her hair once and kissed it, whispering "That's it. Just calm down and relax."

Sharpay wriggled out of his hold and turned to him, her eyes still as hard and ice-cold as ever. "You know I'm not going to relax until that pathetic excuse of a man is sentenced to life in prison or dead! How could you be so calm about this, Zeke?!"

"I'm not. Trust me, I'm just as upset as you," he replied. "But like I said, this can be dealt with without anymore violence than it's already containing."

"Speak for yourself…" Chad mumbled under his breath, flexing his entire upper region. Taylor, again, didn't object.

Gabriella stood and held up her hands defensively. "Everyone just stop! You haven't even heard the full story yet!"

Taylor raged "We don't need to! All that matters is that he's hitting you and you need to get out right this second!"

"I am!"

"What do you mean?"

Gabriella shuffled back over to Troy and sat down beside him, taking his hand in hers. "Troy offered to let Connie and I move in with him until this whole issue gets resolved. We're going back to Florida sometime this weekend and getting my things."

The gang sat in an expected silence for a while, just blinking back at their two friends. Troy and Gabriella waited anxiously for their reactions, squeezing their hands together n anticipation.

"You're serious?" Kelsi's head cocked to the side curiously.

Troy nodded. "We're picking a time when Jared's at work and going in then. As long as he doesn't get home early, we should be fine."

"And," Gabriella added. "I already have some of my stuff packed from before we left. I was hoping that I would somehow hide out here and he'd just go back to Florida without me."

Sharpay nodded a little, but the frown was still etched on her face. "There's just one little problem with that."

"What could possibly be wrong with that plan?" Jason questioned, not seeing Taylor's face light up in understanding for what Sharpay was saying.

"Who's going to tell Connie?"

"Who's going to tell Connie what?"

The eight heads jumped at the sound of the thirteen year-old's curious voice from the doorway. She was clad in Sharpay's old hot pink tank top and black pajama shorts, a pair of black stilettos strapped on her feet. The adults took turns in receiving glances from her when she asked again. "What's going on?"

Gabriella and Troy shared a quick look of panic before she cleared her throat. "Hey, sweetie. We didn't hear you coming."

Her daughter ignored her, stalking over to the group of anxious adults. "What do you want to tell me?" she repeated herself.

Gabriella inhaled and kept it in her lungs for a while before letting it out slowly, brokenly. "Sit down."

Troy flashed her a look that included his wide, blue eyes screaming. _"Really?!"_

Gabriella shook her head, too quickly for Connie to see it. The youngster placed herself on her mother's knee and rested her elbow on her shoulder. "Connie," Gabriella started, "before I start, I just want you to know that you have absolutely nothing to do with this."

"With what, Mom?"

Gabriella couldn't look at her any longer. She wrapped her arms around Connie's waist and stared at her hands as if they would give her an easy solution to this gigantic dilemma. Unfortunately, nothing was ever that easy for Gabriella. "Your father and I are…getting a divorce."

The sharp gasps and intakes of breath should've been deafening against Connie's ears, but she didn't hear a thing. She just sat there, staring into her mom's ashamed eyes as if she just told her that she had twenty-four hours to live. "W-what?" she whispered lowly.

Gabriella sighed, running a hand through her long hair. "This isn't how I wanted you to find out, with everyone else here, but I just thought you should know before that gang and I make any more plans."

"You're leaving Dad?" Connie breathed again. The quivering tears in her eyes were obvious. Too obvious to Gabriella's already heavy heart.

"Yes, honey. Please understand that I've tried extremely hard to try and understand where our relationship is right now, but I…just can't do that anymore. I can't pretend to love him as much as I did…when we first met." She could almost feel Troy's wince at her lie.

"But…" Connie tried to say, "why? You guys are so perfect." Gabriella heard Chad's huge knuckles crack from behind her and she fought the strong urge to get up and tell him to back off, but she had to keep herself together. If she lost control, God only knew what other chaos would break out.

Gabriella giggled sadly. "Like I said, Connie, I was just trying to keep myself civil around you. We didn't want you thinking that you were the cause of all of this, because if anything, you kept me in that house longer than I ever thought I would be."

Connie was a strong girl. When she was five years old and got stung by a bee for the first time, she didn't cry. Instead, she chased the bug around with a baseball bat for ten minutes and finally crushed it against the brick wall of her house. When she got into her first big argument with her father when she was nine over a mini-skirt she wanted to wear to school, she didn't back down until he grabbed her arm and lightly shoved her against the wall. And even then when she told her mother about the incident, she didn't shed a tear. That could've been because Gabriella cried them for her when she confronted Jared about it and got beaten for her "disrespect against his parenting methods".

But even after all of that, the cursed d-word brought tears to her eyes faster than light flooding a small room. Her body was numbed into a frozen state of quick shock, which could've been why she didn't feel the liquid sorrow seeping down her pale cheeks a moment later. Gabriella quickly wiped them away with a maternal hand. "I'm so sorry, sweetie. I tried, I really did."

"What did he do that was so…wrong?" Connie whimpered, still immobile.

Gabriella pulled the first words from her mind that she considered a good enough words without being considered a lie. "I-I came home early from work one day and found him…with another woman." Without even looking, she could sense Troy's proud grin from behind her. It took a lot of confidence to tell your daughter something that could easily be turned into a lie. Connie could call her dad and ask and when he said no, Gabriella would be to blame.

"He cheated on you?" Connie's shocked voice brought Troy out of his thoughts. He nearly groaned in sympathy when he saw Gabriella's distressed eyes.

"Yes, he did," Gabriella answered. She was cursing herself in her head for being so used to Jared's sleeping around that she could no longer will herself to cry anymore. Was her self-esteem really that low that she expected it? What had happened to her?

"I can't believe him. Why would he want anyone other than you?"

The compliment brought a smile to Gabriella's tired face. "Thank you, honey. I don't know why, but I don't think I want to find out why. Would you?"

Connie's head bowed. "Not really."

The silence of the room wasn't awkward. If anything, it was deepening the depression of the two females sharing the want to not cry. Troy felt the need to cry along with them. Here sat the woman he used to love more than his own life and the teenager who he was already starting to feel protective of. Was that a sign that this was all going to work out fine?

The answer lay in Connie's approaching question.

"So what do we do now?"

Gabriella cracked a wide smile, her bloodshot eyes pushing some of the grief out of the way to make room for relief. "Well, first I'm going to ask how you're feeling about this right now."

Connie shrugged. "I don't know, mixed I guess. There's no excuse for what Dad did, but I just know that I'm going to miss him if we do move out. Are we moving in with Grandma Maria or something?"

Troy unconsciously cleared his throat, which is why he was so surprised when everyone turned their heads to glare at him. Gabriella was doing such a great job on her own explaining this to Connie and that may have just broken her rhythm. However, when Gabriella looked at him, her eyes were appreciative. Her face was the only one that mattered to him so he smiled in reply.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about," Gabriella turned back to Connie, "I told your father that I wanted to move on with my life and he banned me from the house back home, so we're going to stay down here for a little bit until we get back on our feet. I know that you've just met these guys, but I'm sure you'll adjust. You're already getting close to Sharpay, aren't you?" Connie smiled politely at the very pregnant blonde, who grinned back sweetly.

"Yeah, I just might steal these shoes." Connie giggled, gazing down at the stilettos that made her already lengthy legs appear miles longer.

Sharpay waved a hand like it didn't matter. "Keep 'em. I grew out of those years ago, especially with these prego hippo feet." Connie laughed again at Sharpay's sisterly behavior for a second before getting back to the original issue. "So where are we staying?"

Gabriella took a nervous breath and returned her eyes back to Troy's urging ones. "Well…my mother _would_ let us stay with her for a while, but I got another offer."

"Who?"

Gabriella's eyes never broken from Troy's. "Troy's letting us stay with him for a while until we can find a new place."

Connie's head robotically turned and looked Troy over. His head was bowed a little in embarrassment and his eyes were having a hard time deciding weather or not to focus on Connie or the floor, since they were shifting heavily. She looked at him blankly for a second before uttering "We're moving to Albuquerque?"

"If that's okay with you. We can go to grandma's house if you want, but with her age getting up there, I don't know how she'll-"

"Okay."

"What?"

Connie smiled sweetly down at her mother. "Fine, we can move here. Just as long as it's not permanent or anything. I don't want to abandon Florida completely."

Gabriella was just left blinking at her. "You decided that fast?"

Connie shrugged. "I don't want you to go back home if it kills you, Mom. I'm not selfish enough. I'll meet new people and get over it eventually."

Gabriella felt strong tears of happiness well up in her brown eyes as she embraced her offspring tightly. "You're a gift from God, you know that, right?"

"So I've been told." She giggled. The teenager once again turned her attention to a more comfortable Troy and grinned. "You really don't mind roommates?"

Troy shrugged it off with a smile. "Don't sweat it. I wouldn't mind the company."

Connie blushed at his never-ending charm. "Thanks for this."

Troy turned his head to Gabriella and beamed another magical smirk her way. She had the same reaction as her daughter. "No problem."

From that point on, the tense, awkward atmosphere cleared away for the light amusement that suddenly found the old gang, lifting their spirits to cloud nine where they were free to be teenagers again. Zeke brought his X-Box up from the basement where he, Troy, and Chad lost themselves in the old days where they would steer stolen vehicles into each other or into walls and hunt down evil aliens and blow their brains out. Sharpay brought down gossip magazines and chatted about the best and worst dressed, the hottest actors and singers, and who's scandal was the worst. In between all of this, Taylor was flipping between talking to Sharpay about the baby, telling Connie more embarrassing stories about her mother, and sharing with Gabriella the deed of yelling at Chad for sneaking out into the kitchen for a beer. Once dragged back into the room, he was immediately chased back out by Troy who was convinced that he was smack-talking Gabriella. Connie was left snickering hysterically as the basketball coach running his best friend up and down the stairs and being screamed at by Sharpay for almost knocking over expensive China.

Ryan had showed up two hours after Gabriella broke the news about Jared. After everyone greeted him and he was introduced to Connie, he filled Gabriella in on his long-term girlfriend, Aubrey. She was a kindergarten teacher at East Elementary whose husband died of lung cancer ten years prior. They were taking the relationship slow, letting her heart heal and her conscious simmer down over "betraying" her deceased partner. She had to stay in the hospital with her mother, so Ryan just whipped out his phone and showed her a picture of the smiling woman, with a few freckles and long brunette hair among red highlights. Along with sparkling green eyes, she was short and slim with a few curves here and there. Gabriella grinned. She was exactly Ryan's type.

It wasn't until around two o'clock in the morning that the group began to tire. Sharpay was the first one out cold in Zeke's lap, holding her stomach and cuddling herself under his chin. Next was Chad, who was hugely sprawled all over floor and snoring semi-loudly with his mouth wide open and the game controller clasped in his unnecessarily protective hand. After Taylor did her best to get him at least half awake to curl up on the couch floor, she placed herself next to him and drifted off to sleep with his arm draped over her. The same went for everyone else. Kelsi slept in between Jason and Ryan, on account of them being ex's who were still extremely close.

Finally, the night finished off with Connie curling up against her mother's warm body and falling asleep within minutes. Once he made sure that they were both slumbering soundly, Troy flipped the flat screen off and lay his back on the floor beside Gabriella, leaning his head back against the couch and letting his eyes flutter shut. Just as he was about to let himself succumb to his sleepiness, he felt a delicate mass make its way to his still-toned stomach. Snapping his beautiful sapphires open, he relaxed instantly when he realized Gabriella adjusting herself on him and watching the smile form on her plump lips. Troy couldn't help himself. He raised his hand and resumed to stroking her hair softly, just like he had done earlier in the night. He just sat like that for what he guessed to be an hour before leaning up to kiss her temple. "You're safe now. I promise." With that, he drifted into the room's darkness with his ex-girlfriend and her offspring resting contently on his body. He wouldn't have it any other way.

* * *

**There really isn't any excuse for how long it's been except for my pure laziness. Wow, I got so caught up in Haunting Memories that I just didn't have it in me to work on this one. Over the past year, I would always come back to this document and write a few words before coming up with something for Haunting Memories and click out of this. That's not professional and I'm sorry. Tell me how you feel about it in your review, please.**

**~Rachel :)**


	9. AN Help

**More months go by without jack shit from me…I'll be surprised if you even remembered what this story was when you got the update email…**

**Anywho, I need some help as you can probably tell. I know where I want this story to go, but I'm just not sure how to manage my progress. I want to know if you want the next chapter to be a relaxed, chill filler or do you want some action (which would most likely be in a flashback or something, like a nightmare from Gabby) but your ideas would be lovely. A few in sequential order would be even better than all the damn snow that's piling on top of my house :]**

**Thanks, guys!**

**~Rachel :]**


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